OCE751 ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT

ASSESSMENT (OPEN ELECTIVE)

OBJECTIVES:
 To impart the knowledge and skills to identify, assess and mitigate the environmental and
social impacts of developmental projects.

UNIT I INTRODUCTION

Impacts of Development on Environment – Rio Principles of Sustainable Development-

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) – Objectives – Historical development – EIA Types –
EIA in project cycle –EIA Notification and Legal Framework.

UNIT II ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

Screening and Scoping in EIA – Drafting of Terms of Reference,Baseline monitoring, Prediction

and Assessment of Impact on land, water, air, noise, flora and fauna - Matrices – Networks –
Checklist Methods - Mathematical models for Impact prediction.

UNIT III ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN

Plan for mitigation of adverse impact on water, air and land, water, energy, flora and fauna –
Environmental Monitoring Plan – EIA Report Preparation – Public Hearing-Environmental
Clearance.

UNIT IV SOCIO ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT

Baseline monitoring of Socio economic environment – Identification of Project Affected

Personal – Rehabilitation and Resettlement Plan- Economic valuation of Environmental impacts
– Cost benefit Analysis.
UNIT V CASE STUDIES

EIA case studies pertaining to Infrastructure Projects – Roads and Bridges – Mass Rapid
Transport Systems - Airports - Dams and Irrigation projects - Power plants.
 UNIT - I

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL IMPACT ASSESMENT

1) Impacts of development on environment:

 Land–use change is arguably the most pervasive socioeconomic force
driving changes and degradation of ecosystems. Deforestation, urban
development, agriculture, and other human activities have substantially
altered the Earth’s landscape. Such disturbance of the land affects important
ecosystem processes and services, which can have wide–ranging and long–
term consequences .

 Farmland provides open space and valuable habitat for many wildlife
species. However, intensive agriculture has potentially severe ecosystem
consequences. For example, it has long been recognized that agricultural
land use and practices can cause water pollution and the effect is influenced
by government policies. Runoff from agricultural lands is a leading source
of water pollution both in inland and coastal waters. Conversions of
wetlands to crop production and irrigation water diversions have brought
many wildlife species to the verge of extinction.
 Forests provide many ecosystem services. They support biodiversity,
providing critical habitat for wildlife, remove carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere, intercept precipitation, slow down surface runoff, and reduce
soil erosion and flooding. These important ecosystem services will be
reduced or destroyed when forests are converted to agriculture or urban
development. For example, deforestation, along with urban sprawl,
agriculture, and other human activities, has substantially altered and
fragmented the Earth’s vegetative cover. Such disturbance can change the
global atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, the principal heat–
trapping gas, as well as affect local, regional, and global climate by changing
the energy balance on Earth's surface (Marland et al. 2003).

 Urban development has been linked to many environmental problems,

including air pollution, water pollution, and loss of wildlife habitat. Urban
runoff often contains nutrients, sediment and toxic contaminants, and can
cause not only water pollution but also large variation in stream flow and
temperatures. Habitat destruction, fragmentation, and alteration associated
with urban development have been identified as the leading causes of
biodiversity decline and species extinctions (Czech, Krausman and Devers
2000; Soulé 1991). Urban development and intensive agriculture in coastal
areas and further inland are a major threat to the health, productivity, and
biodiversity of the marine environment throughout the world.
2) Rio principles of sustainable development environment impact assessment
(EIA)

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development,Having

met at Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992, Reaffirming the Declaration of the
United Nations Conference on the Human Environment , adopted at Stockholm on
16 June 1972, a/ and seeking to build upon it, With the goal of establishing a new
and equitable global partnership through the creation of new levels of cooperation
among States, key sectors of societies and people, Working towards international
agreements which respect the interests of all and protect the integrity of the global
environmental and developmental system,Recognizing the integral and
interdependent nature of the Earth, our home, Proclaims that:

Principle 1

 Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development.

They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature.

Principle 2

 States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the
principles of international law, the sovereign right to exploit their own
resources pursuant to their own environmental and developmental policies,
and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or
control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas
beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.

Principle 3

 The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet

developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations.
Principle 4

 In order to achieve sustainable development, environmental protection shall

constitute an integral part of the development process and cannot be
considered in isolation from it.

Principle 5

 All States and all people shall cooperate in the essential task of eradicating
poverty as an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, in
order to decrease the disparities in standards of living and better meet the
needs of the majority of the people of the world.

Principle 6

 The special situation and needs of developing countries, particularly the least
developed and those most environmentally vulnerable, shall be given special
priority. International actions in the field of environment and development
should also address the interests and needs of all countries.

Principle 7

 States shall cooperate in a spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect

and restore the health and integrity of the Earth's ecosystem. In view of the
different contributions to global environmental degradation, States have
common but differentiated responsibilities. The developed countries
acknowledge the responsibility that they bear in the international pursuit of
 sustainable development in view of the pressures their societies place on the
global environment and of the technologies and financial .

Principle 8

 To achieve sustainable development and a higher quality of life for all

people, States should reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of
production and consumption and promote appropriate demographic policies.

Principle 9

 States should cooperate to strengthen endogenous capacity-building for

sustainable development by improving scientific understanding through
exchanges of scientific and technological knowledge, and by enhancing the
development, adaptation, diffusion and transfer of technologies, including
new and innovative technologies.

Principle 10

 Environmental issues are best handled with the participation of all concerned
citizens, at the relevant level. At the national level, each individual shall
have appropriate access to information concerning the environment that is
held by public authorities, including information on hazardous materials and
activities in their communities, and the opportunity to participate in
decision-making processes. States shall facilitate and encourage public
awareness and participation by making information widely available.
 Effective access to judicial and administrative proceedings, including redress
and remedy, shall be provided.

Principle 11

 States shall enact effective environmental legislation. Environmental

standards, management objectives and priorities should reflect the
environmental and developmental context to which they apply. Standards
applied by some countries may be inappropriate and of unwarranted
economic and social cost to other countries, in particular developing
countries.

Principle 12

 States should cooperate to promote a supportive and open international

economic system that would lead to economic growth and sustainable
development in all countries, to better address the problems of
environmental degradation. Trade policy measures for environmental
purposes should not constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable
discrimination or a disguised restriction on international trade. Unilateral
actions to deal with environmental challenges outside the jurisdiction of the
importing country should be avoided. Environmental measures addressing
transboundary or global environmental problems should, as far as possible,
be based on an international consensus.

Principle 13
  States shall develop national law regarding liability and compensation for
the victims of pollution and other environmental damage. States shall also
cooperate in an expeditious and more determined manner to develop further
international law regarding liability and compensation for adverse effects of
environmental damage caused by activities within their jurisdiction or
control to areas beyond their jurisdiction.

Principle 14

 States should effectively cooperate to discourage or prevent the relocation

and transfer to other States of any activities and substances that cause severe
environmental degradation or are found to be harmful to human health.

Principle 15

 In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be

widely applied by States according to their capabilities. Where there are
threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall
not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent
environmental degradation.

Principle 16

 National authorities should endeavour to promote the internalization of

environmental costs and the use of economic instruments, taking into
account the approach that the polluter should, in principle, bear the cost of
pollution, with due regard to the public interest and without distorting
international trade and investment.

Principle 17
  Environmental impact assessment, as a national instrument, shall be
undertaken for proposed activities that are likely to have a significant
adverse impact on the environment and are subject to a decision of a
resources they competent national authority.

Principle 18

 States shall immediately notify other States of any natural disasters or other
emergencies that are likely to produce sudden harmful effects on the
environment of those States. Every effort shall be made by the international
community to help States so afflicted.

Principle 19

 States shall provide prior and timely notification and relevant information to
potentially affected States on activities that may have a significant adverse
transboundary environmental effect and shall consult with those States at an
early stage and in good faith.

Principle 20

 Women have a vital role in environmental management and development.

Their full participation is therefore essential to achieve sustainable
development.

Principle 21

 The creativity, ideals and courage of the youth of the world should be
mobilized to forge a global partnership in order to achieve sustainable
development and ensure a better future for all.

Principle 22
  Indigenous people and their communities and other local communities have
a vital role in environmental management and development because of their
knowledge and traditional practices. States should recognize and duly
support their identity, culture and interests and enable their effective
participation in the achievement of sustainable development.

Principle 23

 The environment and natural resources of people under oppression,

domination and occupation shall be protected.

Principle 24

 Warfare is inherently destructive of sustainable development. States shall

therefore respect international law providing protection for the environment
in times of armed conflict and cooperate in its further development, as
necessary.

Principle 25

 Peace, development and environmental protection are interdependent and

indivisible.

Principle 26

 States shall resolve all their environmental disputes peacefully and by

appropriate means in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.

Principle 27
  States and people shall cooperate in good faith and in a spirit of partnership
in the fulfilment of the principles embodied in this Declaration and in the
further development of international law in the fiel

3 ) Classifications of EIA : OR EIA Types:

Definition of EIA:

 Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) can be defined as the systematic

identification and evaluation of the potential impacts (effects) of proposed
projects, plans, programs or legislative actions relative to the physical,
chemical, biological, cultural and socio-economic components of the total
environmentd of sustainable development.

Classification of EIA:

 EIA can be classified based on the purpose and the theme of development.
EIA can be climate impact assessment, demographic impact assessment,
development impact assessment, ecological impact assessment, economic
and fiscal impact assessment, health impact assessment, risk assessment,
social impact assessment, strategic impact assessment, technology
assessment.

 In addition to this list, EIA is also categorised based on systematic analysis

of environmental parameters, geographical region, carrying capacity
limitations and sectoral planning. They are strategic EIA, regional EIA,
sectoral EIA, project level EIA and life cycle assessment.
Strategic EIA (SEIA):

 Strategic EIA refers to systematic analysis of the environmental effects of

development policies, plans, programs and other proposed strategic actions.
This process extends the aims and principles of EIA upstream in the
decision- making process, beyond the project level and when major
alternatives are still open. Strategic EIA represents a proactive approach to
integrate environmental considerations into the higher level of decision-
making.

Regional EIA:

 EIA in the context of regional planning integrates environmental concerns

into development planning for a geographic region, normally at the sub-
country level. Such an approach is referred to as the economic-cum-
environmental (EcE) development planning. This approach facilitates
adequate integration of economic development with management of
renewable natural resources within the carrying capacity limitation to
achieve sustainable development.

 It fulfills the need for macro-level environmental integration, which the

project-oriented EIA is unable to address effectively. Regional EIA
addresses the environmental impacts of regional development plans and
thus, the context for project-level EIA of the subsequent projects, within the
region. In addition, if environmental effects are considered at regional level,
 then cumulative environmental effects of all the projects within the region
can be accounted.

Sectoral EIA:

 Instead of project-level-EIA, an EIA should take place in the context of

regional and sectoral level planning. Once sectoral level development plans
have the integrated sectoral environmental concerns addressed, the scope of
project-level EIA will be quite narrow. Sectoral EIA will help to address
specific environmental problems that may be encountered in planning and
implementing sectoral development projects.

Project Level EIA:

 Project level EIA refers to the developmental activity in isolation and the
impacts that it exerts on the receiving environment. Thus, it may not
effectively integrate the cumulative effects of the development in a region.

Life Cycle Assessment:

 A broader approach to deal with environmental impacts in manufacturing is

called life cycle analysis. This approach recognizes that environmental
concerns enter into every step of the process with respect to the
manufacturing, of the products and thus examines environmental impacts of
the product at all stages of the product life cycle.
  This includes the product design, development, manufacturing, packaging,
distribution, usage and disposal. LCA is concerned with reducing
environmental impacts at all these stages and looking at the total picture
rather than just one stage of the production process. Through utilizing this
concept, firms minimize the life cycle environmental costs of their total
product system. LCA gives sufficient scope to think about the. alternatives
which are lower at cost. From the above discussion, it is clear that EIA shall
be integrated at all the levels i.e. strategic, regional, sectoral and the project
level. Whereas, the strategic EIA is a structural change, the regional EIA
refers to substantial information processing and drawing complex inferences.
 The project-level EIA is relatively simple and reaches to meaningful
conclusions. As we progress and the resource planning concepts emerge in
our decision- making process, the integration of overall regional issues will
become part of the impact assessment studies

4 ) EIA in project cycle:

 The EIA process makes sure that environmental issues are raised when a
project or plan is first discussed and that all concerns are addressed as a
project gains momentum through to implementation. Recommendations
made by the EIA may necessitate the redesign of some project components,
require further studies, suggest changes which alter the economic viability of
the project or cause a delay in project implementation. To be of most benefit
it is essential that an environmental assessment is carried out to determine
significant impacts early in the project cycle so that recommendations can be
built into the design and cost-benefit analysis without causing major delays
 or increased design costs. To be effective once implementation has
commenced, the EIA should lead to a mechanism whereby adequate
monitoring is undertaken to realize environmental management. An
important output from the EIA process should be the delineation of enabling
mechanisms for such effective management.

 The way in which an EIA is carried out is not rigid: it is a process

comprising a series of steps. These steps are outlined below and the
techniques more commonly used in EIA are described in some detail in the
section Techniques. The main steps in the EIA process are:

• screening

• scoping

• prediction and mitigation

• management and monitoring

• audit

Figure 1 shows a general flow diagram of the EIA process, how it fits in with
parallel technical and economic studies and the role of public participation. In
some cases, such as small-scale irrigation schemes, the transition from
identification through to detailed design may be rapid and some steps in the EIA
procedure may be omitted.
• Screening often results in a categorization of the project and from this a decision
is made on whether or not a full EIA is to be carried out.

• Scoping is the process of determining which are the most critical issues to study
and will involve community participation to some degree. It is at this early stage
that EIA can most strongly influence the outline proposal.

• Detailed prediction and mitigation studies follow scoping and are carried out in
parallel with feasibility studies.

• The main output report is called an Environmental Impact Statement, and

contains a detailed plan for managing and monitoring environmental impacts both
during and after implementation.

• Finally, an audit of the EIA process is carried out some time after
implementation. The audit serves a useful feedback and learning function.
FIGURE 1: flow diagram of the EIA process and parallel studies.

 An EIA team for an irrigation and drainage study is likely to be composed of

some or all of the following: a team leader; a hydrologist; an
irrigation/drainage engineer; a fisheries biologist/ecologist; an
agronomist/pesticide expert; a soil conservation expert; a
biological/environmental scientist; an economist, a social scientist and a
health scientist (preferably a epidemiologist). The final structure of the team
will vary depending on the project. Specialists may also be required for
fieldwork, laboratory testing, library research, data processing, surveys and
modelling. The team leader will require significant management skill to co-
ordinate the work of a team with diverse skills and knowledge.

 There will be a large number of people involved in EIA apart from the full-
time team members. These people will be based in a wide range of
organizations, such as the project proposing and authorizing bodies,
regulatory authorities and various interest groups. Such personnel would be
located in various agencies and also in the private sector; a considerable
number will need specific EIA training.

 The length of the EIA will obviously depend on the programme, plan or
project under review. However, the process usually lasts from between 6 and
18 months from preparation through to review. It will normally be
approximately the same length as the feasibility study of which it should
form an integral part. It is essential that the EIA team and the team carrying
 out the feasibility study work together and not in isolation from each other.
This often provides the only opportunity for design changes to be made and
mitigation measures to be incorporated in the project design.

 The cost of the study will vary considerably and only very general estimates
can be given here. Typically, costs vary from between 0.1 and 0.3 percent of
the total project cost for large projects over US$ 100 million and from 0.2 to
0.5 percent for projects less than US$ 100 million. For small projects the
cost could increase to between 1 and 3 percent of the project cost.

Screening

 Screening is the process of deciding on whether an EIA is required. This

may be determined by size (eg greater than a predetermined surface area of
irrigated land that would be affected, more than a certain percentage or flow
to be diverted or more than a certain capital expenditure). Alternatively it
may be based on site-specific information. For example, the repair of a
recently destroyed diversion structure is unlikely to require an EIA whilst a
major new headwork structure may. Guidelines for whether or not an EIA is
required will be country specific depending on the laws or norms in
operation. Legislation often specifies the criteria for screening and full EIA.
All major donors screen projects presented for financing to decide whether
an EIA is required.
  The output from the screening process is often a document called an Initial
Environmental Examination or Evaluation (IEE). The main conclusion will
be a classification of the project according to its likely environmental
sensitivity. This will determine whether an EIA is needed and if so to what
detail.

Scoping

 Scoping occurs early in the project cycle at the same time as outline
planning and pre-feasibility studies. Scoping is the process of identifying the
key environmental issues and is perhaps the most important step in an EIA.
Several groups, particularly decision makers, the local population and the
scientific community, have an interest in helping to deliberate the issues
which should be considered, and scoping is designed to canvass their views,
(Wathern 1988).

 Scoping is important for two reasons. First, so that problems can be

pinpointed early allowing mitigating design changes to be made before
expensive detailed work is carried out. Second, to ensure that detailed
prediction work is only carried out for important issues. It is not the purpose
of an EIA to carry out exhaustive studies on all environmental impacts for
all projects. If key issues are identified and a full scale EIA considered
necessary then the scoping should include terms of reference for these
further studies.
 At this stage the option exists for cancelling or drastically revising the
project should major environmental problems be identified. Equally it may
be the end of the EIA process should the impacts be found to be
insignificant. Once this stage has passed, the opportunity for major changes
to the project is restricted.

 Before the scoping exercise can be fully started, the remit of the study needs
to be defined and agreed by the relevant parties. These will vary depending
on the institutional structure. At a minimum, those who should contribute to
determining the remit will include those who decide whether a policy or
project is implemented, those carrying out the EIA (or responsible for
having it carried out by others) and those carrying out parallel engineering
and economic studies relating to the proposal. Chapter 5 gives details on
preparing terms of reference for an EIA. A critical issue to determine is the
breadth of the study. For example, if a proposed project is to increase the
area of irrigated agriculture in a region by 10%, is the remit of the EIA to
study the proposal only or also to consider options that would have the same
effect on production?

 A major activity of scoping is to identify key interest groups, both

governmental and non-governmental, and to establish good lines of
communication. People who are affected by the project need to hear about it
as soon as possible. Their knowledge and perspectives may have a major
 bearing on the focus of the EIA. Rapid rural appraisal techniques provide a
means of assessing the needs and views of the affected population.

 The main EIA techniques used in scoping are baseline studies, checklists,
matrices and network diagrams. These techniques collect and present
knowledge and information in a straightforward way so that logical
decisions can be made about which impacts are most significant. Risk and
uncertainty are discussed further in the section Managing uncertainty.

Prediction and mitigation

 Once the scoping exercise is complete and the major impacts to be studied
have been identified, prediction work can start. This stage forms the central
part of an EIA. Several major options are likely to have been proposed either
at the scoping stage or before and each option may require separate
prediction studies. Realistic and affordable mitigating measures cannot be
proposed without first estimating the scope of the impacts, which should be
in monetary terms wherever possible. It then becomes important to quantify
the impact of the suggested improvements by further prediction work.
Clearly, options need to be discarded as soon as their unsuitability can be
proved or alternatives shown to be superior in environmental or economic
terms, or both. It is also important to test the "without project" scenario.
 An important outcome of this stage will be recommendations for mitigating
measures. This would be contained in the Environmental Impact Statement.
Clearly the aim will be to introduce measures which minimize any identified
adverse impacts and enhance positive impacts. Formal and informal
communication links need to be established with teams carrying out
feasibility studies so that their work can take proposals into account.
Similarly, feasibility studies may indicate that some options are technically
or economically unacceptable and thus environmental prediction work for
these options will not be required.

 Many mitigating measures do not define physical changes but require

management or institutional changes or additional investment, such as for
health services. Mitigating measures may also be procedural changes, for
example, the introduction of, or increase in, irrigation service fees to
promote efficiency and water conservation. Table 6 in Chapter 4 describes
the most common adverse impacts associated with irrigation and drainage
schemes and some appropriate mitigating measures.

 By the time prediction and mitigation are undertaken, the project preparation
will be advanced and a decision will most likely have been made to proceed
with the project. Considerable expenditure may have already been made and
budgets allocated for the implementation of the project. Major changes could
be disruptive to project processing and only accepted if prediction shows
that impacts will be considerably worse than originally identified at the
scoping stage. For example, an acceptable measure might be to alter the
 mode of operation of a reservoir to protect downstream fisheries, but a
measure proposing an alternative to dam construction could be highly
contentious at this stage. To avoid conflict it is important that the EIA
process commences early in the project cycle.

 This phase of an EIA will require good management of a wide range of

technical specialists with particular emphasis on:

• prediction methods;

• interpretation of predictions, with and without mitigating measures;

• assessment of comparisons.

 It is important to assess the required level of accuracy of predictions.

Mathematical modelling is a valuable technique, but care must be taken to
choose models that suit the available data. Because of the level of available
knowledge and the complexity of the systems, physical systems are
modelled more successfully than ecological systems which in turn are more
successfully modelled than social systems. Social studies (including
institutional capacity studies) will probably produce output in non-numerical
terms. Expert advice, particularly from experts familiar with the locality, can
provide quantification of impacts that cannot be modelled. Various
techniques are available to remove the bias of individual opinion.
Checklists, matrices, networks diagrams, graphical comparisons and overlays, are
all techniques developed to help carry out an EIA and present the results of an EIA
in a format useful for comparing options. The main quantifiable methods of
comparing options are by applying weightings, to environmental impacts or using
economic cost-benefit analysis or a combination of the two. Numerical values, or
weightings, can be applied to different environmental impacts to (subjectively)
define their relative importance. Assigning economic values to all environmental
impacts is not recommended as the issues are obscured by the single, final answer.
However, economic techniques, can provide insight into comparative importance
where different environmental impacts are to be compared, such as either losing
more wetlands or resettling a greater number of people.

 When comparing a range of proposals or a variety of mitigation or

enhancement activities, a number of characteristics of different impacts need
to be highlighted. The relative importance of impacts needs agreeing,
usually following a method of reaching a consensus but including economic
considerations. The uncertainty in predicting the impact should be clearly
noted. Finally, the time frame in which the impact will occur should be
indicated, including whether or not the impact is irreversible.

Management and monitoring

 The part of the EIS covering monitoring and management is often referred to
as the Environmental Action Plan or Environmental Management Plan. This
 section not only sets out the mitigation measures needed for environmental
management, both in the short and long term, but also the institutional
requirements for implementation. The term 'institutional' is used here in its
broadest context to encompass relationships:

• established by law between individuals and government;

• between individuals and groups involved in economic transactions;

• developed to articulate legal, financial and administrative links among

public agencies;

• motivated by socio-psychological stimuli among groups and individuals

(Craine, 1971).

 The above list highlights the breadth of options available for environmental
management, namely: changes in law; changes in prices; changes in
governmental institutions; and, changes in culture which may be influenced
by education and information dissemination. All the management proposals
need to be clearly defined and costed. One of the more straightforward and
effective changes is to set-up a monitoring programme with clear definition
as to which agencies are responsible for data collection, collation,
interpretation and implementation of management measures.

 The purpose of monitoring is to compare predicted and actual impacts,

particularly if the impacts are either very important or the scale of the impact
 cannot be very accurately predicted. The results of monitoring can be used to
manage the environment, particularly to highlight problems early so that
action can be taken. The range of parameters requiring monitoring may be
broad or narrow and will be dictated by the 'prediction and mitigation' stage
of the EIA. Typical areas of concern where monitoring is weak are: water
quality, both inflow and outflow; stress in sensitive ecosystems; soil fertility,
particularly salinization problems; water related health hazards; equity of
water distributions; groundwater levels.

 The use of satellite imagery to monitor changes in land use and the 'health'
of the land and sea is becoming more common and can prove a cost-
effective tool, particularly in areas with poor access. Remotely sensed data
have the advantage of not being constrained by political and administrative
boundaries. They can be used as one particular overlay in a GIS. However,
authorization is needed for their use, which may be linked to national
security issues, and may thus be hampered by reluctant governments.

 Monitoring should not be seen as an open-ended commitment to collect data.

If the need for monitoring ceases, data collection should cease. Conversely,
monitoring may reveal the need for more intensive study and the
institutional infrastructure must be sufficiently flexible to adapt to changing
demands. The information obtained from monitoring and management can
be extremely useful for future EIAs, making them both more accurate and
more efficient.
  The Environmental Management Plan needs to not only include clear
recommendations for action and the procedures for their implementation but
must also define a programme and costs. It must be quite clear exactly how
management and mitigation methods are phased with project
implementation and when costs will be incurred. Mitigation and
management measures will not be adopted unless they can be shown to be
practicable and good value for money. The plan should also stipulate that if,
during project implementation, major changes are introduced, or if the
project is aborted, the EIA procedures will be re-started to evaluate the effect
of such actions.

Auditing

 In order to capitalise on the experience and knowledge gained, the last

stage of an EIA is to carry out an Environmental Audit some time after
completion of the project or implementation of a programme. It will
therefore usually be done by a separate team of specialists to that working
on the bulk of the EIA. The audit should include an analysis of the
technical, procedural and decision-making aspects of the EIA. Technical
aspects include: the adequacy of the baseline studies, the accuracy of
predictions and the suitability of mitigation measures. Procedural aspects
include: the efficiency of the procedure, the fairness of the public
involvement measures and the degree of coordination of roles and
responsibilities. Decision-making aspects include: the utility of the process
for decision making and the implications for development, (adapted from
Sadler in Wathern, 1988). The audit will determine whether
 recommendations and requirements made by the earlier EIA steps were
incorporated successfully into project implementation. Lessons learnt and
formally described in an audit can greatly assist in future EIAs and build up
the expertise and efficiency of the concerned institutions.

Public participation

 Projects or programmes have significant impacts on the local population.

Whilst the aim is to improve the well being of the population, a lack of
understanding of the people and their society may result in development that
has considerable negative consequences. More significantly, there may be
divergence between national economic interests and those of the local
population. For example, the need to increase local rice production to satisfy
increasing consumption in the urban area may differ from the needs as
perceived by the local farmers. To allow for this, public participation in the
planning process is essential. The EIA provides an ideal forum for checking
that the affected public have been adequately consulted and their views
taken into account in project preparation.

 The level of consultation will vary depending on the type of plan or project.
New projects involving resettlement or displacement will require the most
extensive public participation. As stated before, the purpose of an EIA is to
improve projects and this, to some extent, can only be achieved by involving
those people directly or indirectly affected. The value of environmental
 amenities is not absolute and consensus is one way of establishing values.
Public consultation will reveal new information, improve understanding and
enable better choices to be made. Without consultation, legitimate issues
may not be heard, leading to conflict and unsustainability.

 The community should not only be consulted they should be actively

involved in environmental matters. The International Union for the
Conservation of Nature, IUCN promotes the concept of Primary
Environmental Care whereby farmers, for example, with assistance from
extension services, are directly involved in environmental management. The
earlier the public are involved, the better. Ideally this will be before a
development proposal is fully defined. It is an essential feature of successful
scoping, at which stage feedback will have the maximum influence.
Openness about uncertainty should be a significant feature of this process.
As the EIA progresses, public consultation is likely to be decreased though it
is important to disseminate information. The publication of the draft
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), will normally be accompanied by
some sort of public hearing that needs to be chaired by a person with good
communication skills. He/she may not be a member of the EIA team.

 There are no clear rules about how to involve the public and it is important
that the process remains innovative and flexible. In practice, the views of
people affected by the plan are likely to be heard through some form of
representation rather than directly. It is therefore important to understand
how decisions are made locally and what are the methods of communication,
 including available government extension services. The range of groups
outside the formal structure with relevant information are likely to include:
technical and scientific societies; Water User Groups; NGOs; experts on
local culture; and religious groups. However, it is important to find out
which groups are under-represented and which ones are responsible for
access to natural resources, namely: grazing, water, fishing and forest
products. The views of racial minorities, women, religious minorities,
political minorities and lower cast groups are commonly overlooked, (World
Bank, 1991).

 There has been an enormous increase in the number of environmental NGOs

and "Green" pressure groups throughout the world. Such organizations often
bring environmental issues to the attention of the local press. However, this
should not deter consultation with such organizations as the approach to EIA
should be open and positive with the aim of making improvements. Relevant
NGOs should be identified and their experience and technical capacity put to
good use.

 In some countries, open public meetings are the most common technique to
enable public participation. However, the sort of open debate engendered at
such meetings is often both culturally alien and unacceptable. Alternative
techniques must be used. Surveys, workshops, small group meetings and
interviews with key groups and individuals are all techniques that may be
useful. Tools such as maps, models and posters can help to illustrate points
and improve communication. Where resettlement is proposed, extensive
 public participation must be allowed which will, at a minimum, involve an
experienced anthropologist or sociologist who speaks the local language.
He/she can expect to spend months, rather than weeks, in the field.

 Information dissemination can be achieved using a number of mechanisms

including the broadcasting media, in particular newspapers and radio.
Posters and leaflets are also useful and need to be distributed widely to such
locations as schools, clinics, post offices, community centres, religious
buildings, bus stops, shops etc. The EIA process must be seen to be fair.

 The public participation/consultation and information dissemination

activities need to be planned and budgeted. The social scientist team
member should define how and when activities take place and also the
strategy: extensive field work is expensive. It is important to note that public
participation activities are often reported as a separate section of the final
EIA. Where experience of managing community involvement is limited,
training is highly recommended. Further reading on public participation can
be obtained from: Ahmed L and G K Sammy (1988) and on Rapid Rural
Appraisal from Chambers R (1981). Rapid Rural Appraisal techniques may
be an appropriate and cost effective method of assessment.
Managing uncertainty

 An EIA involves prediction and thus uncertainty is an integral part. There

are two types of uncertainty associated with environmental impact
assessments: that associated with the process and, that associated with
predictions. With the former the uncertainty is whether the most important
impacts have been identified or whether recommendations will be acted
upon or ignored. For the latter the uncertainty is in the accuracy of the
findings. The main types of uncertainty and the ways in which they can be
minimized are discussed by de Jongh in Wathern (1988). They can be
summarized as follows:

• uncertainty of prediction: this is important at the data collection stage and

the final certainty will only be resolved once implementation commences.
Research can reduce the uncertainty;

• uncertainty of values: this reflects the approach taken in the EIA process.
Final certainty will be determined at the time decisions are made. Improved
communications and extensive negotiations should reduce this uncertainty;

• uncertainty of related decision: this affects the decision making element of

the EIA process and final certainty will be determined by post evaluation.
Improved coordination will reduce uncertainty.
 The importance of very wide consultation cannot be overemphasized in
minimizing the risk of missing important impacts. The significance of
impacts is subjective, but the value judgements required are best arrived at
by consensus: public participation and consultation with a wide sector of the
community will reduce uncertainty. One commonly recurring theme is the
dilemma of whether to place greater value on short-term benefits or long-
term problems.

 The accuracy of predictions is dependent on a variety of factors such as lack

of data or lack of knowledge. It is important not to focus on predictions that
are relatively easy to calculate at the expense of impacts that may be far
more significant but difficult to analyse. Prediction capabilities are generally
good in the physical and chemical sciences, moderate in ecological sciences
and poor in social sciences. Surveys are the most wide-spread technique for
estimating people's responses and possible future actions.

 The results of the EIA should indicate the level of uncertainty with the use
of confidence limits and probability analyses wherever possible. Sensitivity
analysis similar to that used in economic evaluation, could be used if
adequate quantifiable data are available. A range of outcomes can be found
by repeating predictions and adjusting key variables.
  EIA cannot give a precise picture of the future, much as the Economic
Internal Rate of Return cannot give a precise indication of economic
success. EIA enables uncertainty to be managed and, as such, is an aid to
better decision making. A useful management axiom is to preserve
flexibility in the face of uncertainty

Technique:

Baseline studies

 Baseline studies using available data and local knowledge will be required
for scoping. Once key issues have been identified, the need for further in-
depth studies can be clearly identified and any additional data collection
initiated. The ICID Check-list will be found useful to define both coarse
information required for scoping and further baseline studies required for
prediction and monitoring. Specialists, preferably with local knowledge, will
be needed in each key area identified. They will need to define further data
collection, to ensure that it is efficient and targeted to answer specific
questions, and to quantify impacts. A full year of baseline data is desirable to
capture seasonal effects of many environmental phenomena. However, to
avoid delay in decision making, short-term data monitoring should be
undertaken in parallel with long-term collection to provide conservative
estimates of environmental impacts.

The ICID Check-list

 A comprehensive and user-friendly checklist is an invaluable aid for several

activities of an EIA, particularly scoping and defining baseline studies. "The
 ICID Environmental Check-List to Identify Environmental Effects of
Irrigation, Drainage and Flood Control Projects" (Mock and Bolton, 1993) is
recommended for use in any irrigation and drainage EIA. The Check-list has
been prepared for non-specialists and enables much time-consuming work to
be carried out in advance of expert input. It includes extensive data
collection sheets. The collected data can then be used to answer a series of
questions to identify major impacts and to identify shortages of data. A
matrix indicates which data are linked to which questions. Chapter 4
describes the major impacts based on the 8 Check-list topics.

 The results sheet from the Check-list is reproduced as Table 1. The very
simple layout of the sheet enables an overview of impacts to be presented
clearly which is of enormous value for the scoping process. Similarly, data
shortages can be readily seen. The process of using the ICID Check-list may
be repeated at different stages of an EIA with varying levels of detail. Once
scoping has been completed, the results sheet may be modified to omit
minor topics and to change the horizontal classification to provide further
information about the impacts being assessed. At this point the output from
the Check-list can be useful as an input to matrices. The ICID Check-list is
also available as a WINDOWS based software package. This enables the
rapid production of a report directly from the field study.
5) EIA notification and legal framework: Environmental Impact Assessment
Notification, 2006Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 2006

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) notified the new EIA
Notification in September 2006 after putting up the draft notification for
public comment for a year.

The objective of EIA Notification 2006 is to address the limitations in the old
EIA Notification (1994). Therefore, various modifications have been
incorporated in the old Notification, which the ministry claims have been done
after taking into account the feedback from the different stakeholders.

Source

 Industry & Environment Unit, Centre for Science & Environment, 2006
Though, there have been some improvements in the new notification over
the previous one, it has certainly failed to meet the expectations of the
various stakeholders, especially members of the civil society, NGOs and
local communityThe major difference in the New EIA Notification 2006
from the earlier one (1994) is its attempt to decentralise power to the State
Government. Earlier all the projects under schedule 1 went to the Central
Government for environmental clearance. However, as per the new
notification, significant number of projects will go to the state for clearance
depending on its size/capacity/area. For this, the notification has made a
provision to form an expert panel, the Environment Appraisal Committees
(SEAC) at the State level. Though this is a good attempt to reduce the
burden on the central government, however, this provision can be misused as
in many cases state government is actively pursuing industrialisation for
 their respective state. The new notification has also failed to mention if there
would be some sort of monitoring of state level projects by the central
government.
Amendment on April 10, 1997:
The process of environmental public hearing (EPH) was introduced in
the environmental clearance process. The SPCBs were entrusted to conduct
public hearing to get the views and concerns of the affected community and
interested parties for the proposed project. It was also entrusted with forming
an EPH committee to ensure fair representation in the public hearing
process. This amendment also made some changes with reference to the
environmental clearance required for power plants.
Amendment on June 13, 2002:
This amendment diluted the purpose of the notification exempting
many industries from the EIA process or from the entire environment
clearance process on the basis of level of investment.

It exempted pipeline and highway projects from preparing the EIA

report, but these projects would have to conduct public hearings in all the districts
through which the pipeline or highway passes.

A number of projects were totally exempted from the Notification if the

investment was less than Rs 100 crore for new projects and less than Rs. 50 crore
for expansion/modernisation projects.

Most of the industries exempted from the clearance process had a very
high social and environmental impact even if the investment was less than Rs 100
crore. For example, in case of hydel power projects, irrespective of the investment,
there will be social impacts due to displacement.
 No EIA was required for modernisation projects in irrigation sector if
additional command area was less than 10,000 hectares or project cost was less
than Rs. 100 crore.

Amendment on 28th February, 2003: This amendment added a little tooth to

the notification. It took into consideration location-sensitivity into the
environment clearance process. This amendment prohibited certain processes
and operations in specified areas of the Aravalli rangeAmendment on July
7th, 2004: It made EIA mandatory for construction and industrial estate.
 UNIT –II

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

2.1) SCREENING AND SCOPING IN EIA

2.1.1) SCREENING:

What is screening?

Screening is the first stage of the EIA process which results in a key EIA decision, namely to
either conduct the assessment (based on the likely significant impacts) or not conduct it (in the
anticipated absence of such impacts). Screening needs to follow specific procedures often
described in the legislation so all the projects follow the same process.

Key contributions of screening to a good EIA:

 Facilitates informed decision making by providing clear, well-structured,

factual analysis of the effects and consequences of proposed actions.
 screening out environmentally and/or socially unsound proposals, as well
as modifying feasible action.

Why conduct screening?

An essential aspect of conducting an EIA is to determine the level of impact of the

proposed project, development or initiative. When we look at major development projects—especially
those involving natural resources, such as mining, hydroelectric dams, or oil extraction—we can say for
certain that they will require an environmental and social impact assessment. On the other hand, while the
development of a tourism project may seem low-risk at first, a second look could reveal that the project
requires large amounts of drinking water, energy, the removal of endangered flora or fauna, and will
result in extensive sewage production. It may also lead to increased road and air traffic to deliver supplies,
visitors and workers. Finally, the impacts of project could change over time. Thus, during the screening
step as well as the whole EIA process, impacts are considered over the lifetime of the project, from the
construction phase through to operations and after closing.Most proposals can be screened very quickly
because they will have few impacts and will be screened out of the EIA process. Only a limited number of
proposals, usually large-scale projects, require a full EIA because they will likely have major irreversible
impacts on environmental resources or on people’s health, livelihoods or cultural heritage. However,
many projects with medium impacts will require an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) which is a
component of a full EIA.

What approaches Exists?

Most countries in Central America focus on identifying the types of projects, their size and potential
impacts to determine the need for an EIA. Overall, we can distinguish two different approaches to
screening .Proponents can often decide whether their project will need an EIA based on these
standardized approaches. These could include:

 Legal (or policy) definitions of proposals to which EIA does or does not
apply.
 Inclusion lists of projects (with or without thresholds) for which an EIA is
automatically required.
 Exclusion lists of activities that do not require an EIA because they are
insignificant or are exempt by law (e.g., national security or emergency
activities).

How it is conducted?

To determine whether or not the project requires an EIA, project proponents assess
their project based upon a set of criteria determined by a designated agency. It is important that
screening be done as early as possible in the development of the proposal in order for the
proponent and other stakeholders to be aware of possible EIA obligations. It is also important
that screening be applied systematically and consistently, so that the same decision would be
reached if others did the screening.

The European Union suggests a set of questions to quickly assess project proposals. These
questions are designed so that a “Yes” answer will generally point toward the need for EIA and a
“No” answer to one not being required (European Commission, 2001).

Will there be a large change in environmental conditions?

Will new features be out-of-scale with the existing environment?
Will the effect be unusual in the area or particularly complex?

2.1.2) SCOPING:
What is scoping?

Scoping is a critical step in the preparation of an EIA, as it identifies the issues that are likely to
be of most importance during the EIA and eliminates those that are of little concern. Scoping is a
systematic exercise that establishes the boundaries of your EIA and sets the basis of the analyses you will
conduct at each stage. A quality scoping study reduces the risk of including inappropriate components or
excluding components that should be addressed. It involves:

o Identifying all relevant issues and factors, including

o cumulative effects, social impacts, and health risks.
o Facilitating meaningful public engagement and review.
o Determining the appropriate time and space boundaries of the EIA.
o Identifying the important issues to be considered in the EIA, such as setting the baseline
and identifying alternatives.

Why conduct scoping?

Scoping is critical as it sets up the boundaries of the EIA, including the project area; it
establishes what the EIA will include and how to put the EIA together in accordance with the
terms of reference (TOR). An EIA is an intensive process in terms of costs, cross-sectoral
expertise and assessments that must be completed, and the types and extent of the consultations
that must be conducted. Scoping helps to select what is needed and what is not relevant, and thus
it serves as a work plan for the entire EIA process. The information gathered during the scoping
phase is used in the next steps of the EIA.

What approaches exist?

Determining the key aspects and criteria for evaluating the significance of
environmental and socioeconomic impacts.This includes creating a list of environmental,
biological and socioeconomic resources and issues that are important to consider, such as water,
soil and land use, biodiversity and people’s access to water, land and food and energy. At this
stage it is also important to identify the criteria on which impacts will be assessed, such as the
amount of water extracted, waste produced, agricultural land lost and forest cover cut/replanted.
The selected environmental and social resources and issues and the set of criteria will then be
analyzed in detail in the next phases.Selecting an appropriate baseline.
How it is conducted?

A project scoping activity can be carried out in nine main steps. These are:

1. Set up the team of experts that will conduct the EIA.

2. Describe the project area and the area of project influence.
3. Outline project alternatives for preparation, implementation and closure.
4. Conduct public meetings and stakeholder consultations;
5. integrate comments and collected feedback into project planning and the alternatives.
6. Outline a set of environmental, biological and socioeconomic resources and issues that
will be addressed in the assessment.
7. Define a set of criteria to assess the planned project/development.
8. Identify the project impacts, during its all stages, list the significant and non-significant
impacts and explain why.
9. Identify a set of data for baseline descriptions and potential additional data collection
needs.
10. Start inserting this information in the appropriate section of the TOR.

2.2) DRAFTING OF TERMS OF REFERENCE:

The purpose of monitoring is to compare pre- and post project conditions in the development
site. It also compares the predicted and actual impacts. This is especially important in key
impacts like water quality, air quality, soil fertility, endangered species, etc. There are four types
of monitoring:

Impact/effect monitoring
Baseline monitoring
Mitigation monitoring
Compliance monitoring

2.2.1) BASELINE MONITORING:

This is one type of monitoring that is done before the commencement of the project. Baseline monitoring
gives us data that is to be included as pre-project status of the site. For example, air quality baseline data
monitoring requires the team to monitor the air at all strategic locations on the site for 14 consecutive
days prior to the commissioning of the work. This allows them to obtain dust samples every 24
hours.Baseline Environmental Monitoring is vital part of predicting and evaluating potential
environmental impacts which helps to understand existing environmental conditions thus defining the
focus of the environmental impact analysis and resources that need protection through appropriate and
viable mitigation measures. A number of national and international environmental policies and
multilateral lending agencies regulations require description of existing environment that might be
affected by potential development.AETRL has completed several assignments related to base-line
environmental monitoring for number of EIA /EMP projects. Some of assignments were also done for
bilateral funding projects.Physical Environmental Components such as Meteorology, Geology,
Topography, Soil characteristics, Air Quality and Noise Quality, Surface water and Ground water
quality.Biological Environmental Components including biodiversity-flora and fauna.Socio-Economic
Components include socio-economic profile of the project area and its community.

2.3) PREDICTION AND ASSESSMENT OF IMPACT:

2.3.1) IMPACT ON LAND:
soils are more prone to human interferences and are usually more difficult to restore as
compared to temperate region soils (Lal, 1990; Zhang, 2005). Severe deterioration of the soil
quality in these regions is anticipated, especially when poor management practices are observed.
At this level, it is very important to understand and identify the negative environmental impacts
generated by BR Fuel in order to reverse degradation.The action of cutting trees and clearing
parcels of land has an degradation and aridity, namely loss of organic matter and nutrients, soil
acidification, as well as compaction of surface soil, especially if coupled with poor management
and intensive farming practices. This could be worse if analyses indicate highly weathered and
acidic soil, having low organic content and low nutrient storage capacity. The intensity and
frequency of precipitation, the soil texture and land slope also play a major role in the impact on
soil conditions. For example, light rainfall doesn’t have negative impacts on soil as the water will
percolate through the soil and rather enrich the underlying aquifer; whereas, strong rains could
result in a rapid filling of the groundwater and an increase in the water level on the top surface
and the formation runoff along soil cover. The clearing process will also cause the soil to be
susceptible to erosion by rain and wind. The development of a rubber plantation would be
interrupted by soil erosion, where the related detrimental impacts include the accelerated loss of
organic matter/nutrients and biocides. Soil erosion can also have detrimental effects on nearby
water bodies (Merrington et. Al., 2002). Erosion is intimately linked to the cultivation practices.
The magnitude of soil erosion is directly related to weather conditions (i.e.: rainfalls, storms,
etc.), geological conditions, and topographical features (i.e.: land sloping), and it might
contribute to subsequent sedimentation of surface water bodies (Merrington et. Al., 2002). More
details on the soil erosion problem are included in the impact on water resources analysis.The
soil texture also has an impact on making the soil cover more susceptible to erosion. This
depends on the soil composition variation of silt, sand, clay and gravel. Most laterite soils are
porous and claylike. Regosols are known to be shallow medium to fine textured soils. Swamp
soils are rich in minerals and drain very slowly. Soil erosion is mainly enhanced by the presence
of slope within the various soil covers.Soil compaction is another problem resulting from various
activities off-site that include cutting, sawing and chipping will mainly depend on machinery and
constant movement of vehicles (Figure 5-4). The impact of compaction will be reduces as BR
Fuel changes its methodology to trucking logs to a stationary chipper site at its port facility or the
power plant. The new methodology of using feller bunchers to harvest the trees reduces the
number of machines required on a single site.Among the offsite activities that will deplete soil
nutrients will be the replanting of rubber trees, which will also be tapped in the future. Increased
tapping frequency is the leading cause behind soil nutrient depletion. In fact, Hevea trees convert
nutrients from the soil, and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, into organic carbohydrates
known as rubber latex. Over-tapping speeds up the uptake of nutrients to replace those already
lost throughout the process. Unless nutrients are replenished through fertilizer application, this
procedure will only lead to soil quality deterioration (Zhang, 2005). On the other hand, planting
density is also considered an issue when it comes to nutrient preservation. Planting density
should not exceed 500 trees/ha if soil quality is to be preserved (IRRDB). It is worth mentioning
that the replanting of trees and cover crops will eventually minimize erosion thus preventing
leaching of soil nutrients. Moreover, BR Fuel will use the ash left over from burning trees in the
power plant as fertilizers.The traditional cycle of replanting rubber trees often involved trees
being left to rot or burned on the ground, allowing the nutrients from the trees to be reabsorbed
into the soil. Thus, using the majority of the harvested trees for biomass generation may result in
reduced soil nutrients, particularly in the long-term. This may require greater use of fertilizers
during replanting and in the first few years of a rubber trees life in order to replace the nutrients
required for the development of a viable plantation.Different types of fertilizers are expected to
be used at the plantation as an attempt to overcome the soil quality degradation problem and
increase in productivity, since Hevea is relatively intensive to soil-type, and higher yields and
disease resistance can be expected if it is grown on highly fertile soils. Insecticides, herbicides
and fungicides that are to be used on to fight insects and disease have an impact on soil quality.
These actions could deteriorate soil properties and make it unsuitable for future agricultural
activities. The following fertilizers are expected to be used by BR Fuel:

Rock phosphate and NPK 15 15 15

Urea
TSP (Triple Super Phosphate)
Herbicide: glyfos
Insecticide: Plan Dec 25
Fungicides (Agrithane (Mancozeb 80wp)
Organic material: mulch resulting from plant roots and natural debris
Nitrogen fixing cover crops

In an attempt to control soil erosion, natural debris from trees leaves and some of the roots are
mulched and spread as land cover. This action will help in reducing soil erosion and will help in
returning organic matter and nutrients that are enriching to soil. As much as these initiatives are
important to control soil erosion and enrich soil quality, if not coupled with additional
conservation measures they will not deliver the expected outcome. In fact, adopting efficient
preventative measures will not only enhance the soil quality and protect environmental
resources, but it will also play an important role in enhancing productivity and reducing cost
incurred during application of agrochemicals.Last but not least, although acidification is a natural
process, it can be triggered by rubber farming especially in high rainfall regions. This process is
induced by unbalanced nitrogen cycling. In other terms, during periods of rainfall, nitrogen is
washed down in the soil where it is converted into nitrate by soil microorganisms. In this form,
nitrate ions are available for plant uptake. However, excess nitrate ions in soil, as a result of
inappropriate fertilization, will either leach down below the root zone leading to acidification of
the subsoil or run-off to nearby water bodies leading to eutrophication (Merrington, 2002).
Unless this issue is given enough attention, acidification of topsoil, and more seriously, subsoil
will eventually lead to:
 Increased nitrate leaching into water aquifers;
Increased contamination of surface water bodies, leading to eutrophication;
Reduced productivity of the plantation;

2.3.2) IMPACT ON WATER:

Water resources located within or nearby the activities areas are prone to deterioration unless
good management practices are adopted. Water resources include surface water such as streams,
springs, rivers, wetlands, and lakes, and groundwater including aquifers and wells. Such water
bodies are of main importance as they are habitat for several fauna and flora species, sources of
water supply, irrigation and drinking water.The proposed activities of cutting, sawing and wood
chipping have impacts on sites close to water bodies. The resulting wood dust or PM and debris
could alter the water quality if transported and deposited in a water body by increasing water
turbidity and/or depleting oxygen levels which could increase the content of organic substances.
Such changes can disturb the natural balance and threaten the sustainability of affected
ecosystem. Settling of dust particles suspended sediments resulting from soil erosion will affect
the storage and flow capacities of streams, lakes and reservoirs which will adversely affect water
supplies and lead to increased flooding potential in wet seasons and clogging of waterways in
dry seasons. Moreover, the resulting debris is mainly light weight and could form a cover on the
surface of the water thus blocking of sunlight infiltration and the exchange of oxygen. The
clearance of old trees to be replaced by new ones will make the soil cover prone to erosion by
rainfall and wind. The resulting runoff will carry the soil material and any
chemicals/fertilizers/pesticide applied during the replanting phase. This will threaten the water
quality and increase the sediment load in the naturalwatercourses which will affect the flow
capacities of streams, lakes and reservoirs, and also affect water supplies and increasing flood
potential. The significance of this impact increases as operations become more concentrated and
larger-scale. Water quality could also be degraded from gaseous emissions and particulates that
are deposit on the water surface. The activities related to land preparation, replanting and further
care could have impacts on surface and ground waters. Water resources are mainly affected by
pesticides (if used), herbicides, insecticides and other agricultural chemicals, and depend on their
dose and frequency of application. Excess in pesticide application could lead to groundwater
contamination and further contamination of drinking water resources. Such activities could have
direct impacts on human health. The seepage of such liquids to surface waters results in negative
impacts on the aquatic system by inducing eutrophication. Environmental issues associated with
eutrophication can be summarized by the following:

Disturbance in the aquatic food chain due to changes in the species

composition of algal communities;
Increased fish mortality caused by deoxygenating water (resulting from algae
and weeds decomposition);
Impairment of the amenity value of water due to surface algal bloom; and
Production of toxins in the water by some algal species.

Excessive use of pesticides combined with soil erosion, will lead to a relatively significant
contamination of the water bodies close to the sites of operation.Impacts on water quality are
also anticipated to be high at the port site where the wood chips are piled up without preventive
covers allowing rainwater to percolate through. Heavy rains will drain some fine particles of
wood and contribute to organic loads into the nearby water bodies.The impacts on surface and
groundwater from operations on the main site can be significant in case of accidental fuel
leakage or spillage or any mismanagement of other fuel used on the main site or off-site. These
elements are transported into the nearby agricultural fields and water resources through direct
run-off or through seepage into the groundwater (Figure 5-3). Oil spills on the ground of the
site’s facilities including the workshop and the fuel storage area get flushed by strong rains and
transported to surrounding fields.The direct discharge of such liquids has negative impacts on the
aquatic species. Such impacts can be summarized as:

oxygen depletion in the water;

increased levels of chemical pollutants;
increased turbidity inhibiting the sunlight infiltration;
increased sedimentation leading to reduced storage and flow

capacities of streams, lakes and reservoirs leading to limited water supplies and increased flood
potential. Groundwater aquifers are also expected to deteriorate, especially where the water table
is high, mainly due to the leaking of harmful chemicals used or openly dumped during work.
Once contaminated, groundwater is much more difficult to treat.Domestic wastewater from
administrative offices and workers facilities including the toilets and kitchens is a potential
source of water pollution if not properly collected and treated. Other minor impacts may result
from vehicles transporting waste, oil and lubricant generated from equipment maintenance
workshop on-site, washing waters of vehicles and buildings, as well as drainage water collected
from waste collection site.Wastewater that will be produced at the main site consists of sewage
waste, equipment cleaning effluent, runoff from material staging areas, and miscellaneous
activities including wastewater from laboratories, equipment maintenance workshop, etc.Spillage
of either woodchips or machine oil into the sea during ship loading could have an impact on the
ecosystem in the Port of Buchanan. The impact of woodchip spillage from one loading one ship
would likely be quite limited due to the size of the water body; however, the impact of spillage
from several ships would be more significant. This impact is likely to be limited due to the use of
a new conveyor system by BR Fuel, as well as careful servicing of equipment used during ship
loading.The woodchips entering the water would form an organic load that decreases oxygen
saturation in the water due to aerobic decay, negatively impacting aquatic fauna in the area.

2.3.3) IMPACT ON AIR :

Air quality is concerned with two main receptors: the working personnel implementing the
project and the receiving environment. Air emissions are generated within the implementation
phase and are mainly related to vehicles and machinery in use. Vehicles, machinery and
generators working on sites to cut trees, saw branches, chip wood, transport woodchips or logs to
the port/power plant, load woodchips onto vessels and circulate within the site to replant the
fields are sources of air emissions. Gaseous emissions related to those activities include:
particulate matter (PM), NOx, SOx, CO and VOCs. These impacts are of long-term duration and
occur during the different phases of the project especially during the clearing of rubber trees and
the transportation of chips and logs, although such activities occur within a specific time frame.
Further activities such as emergency repairs and welding off-site have minor impacts on the air
quality and are more limited. Fossil fuel based atmospheric emissions occur from the exhaust of
ships transporting the woodchips to their final destinations abroad.Another significant issue
regarding air emissions is the dust particles or PM emissions due to the cutting of trees, sawing
of branches and chipping of wood whereas those activities will result in the emission of dust
particles. Dust particles will eventually deposit on surrounding vegetation, ground surface as
well as nearby residential areas if present. Emitted dust particles could also be transported by
strong winds and have an impact on a larger area other than the original source. The deposition
of dust particles will also form a coating on the surrounding vegetation and on the flora thus
leading to possible damage to the leaves and thus to photosynthesis, respiration and
transpirations processes of plants. Furthermore, dust particles also influence the increase in pH
levels when deposited on water bodies surface or soil cover. Increased dust may also be
generated from the transport of woodchips and logs along laterite roads during the dry season,
potentially affecting communities along the roads. While this impact is minimal for one truck, it
may be more significant as the number of trucks carrying logs and woodchips increases along the
roads. The impact will, however, be mitigated as Liberia’s road infrastructure is developed into
the future. Adverse health effects of PM especially on workers range between respiratory and
cardiac illnesses, skin irritation and eyes irritation (Table 5-2). Although dust emissions are
temporal and mainly attributed to mobile vehicles, this problem can represent a significant health
issue for the workers if not addressed properly.Another concern from the proposed project is
related to climate change, where the cutting of trees accounts for the degradation of an
environmental buffer element. Trees are considered as major players in the carbon sequestration
process, which is essential for limiting climate change. In other words, the cut rubber trees play a
role in reducing the carbon dioxide and pollutants in the atmosphere. However, the increase in
carbon due to the cutting and burning (in power plants) of rubber trees will be for a limited time
especially given that the cut trees are redundant and old and could start emitting carbon instead
of absorbing. Moreover, young rubber trees tend to absorb carbon as they grow much more
quickly than older trees.Moreover, unplanned fertilization at the newly cultivated site might lead
to high levels of nitrogen leaking from the soil back into the atmosphere mainly in the form of
Nitrogen dioxide. The main sources of these emissions are microbial nitrification and de-
nitrification. Nitrogen dioxide is considered a primary criteria pollutant, which once introduced
to the atmosphere will result in acid rain in the presence of water and oxygen and the formation
of tropospheric ozone in the presence sunlight and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
(Cooper et.al., 2002). Although the agricultural sector is not considered the major source of
nitrogen oxides as compared to the industrial and transport sectors, this issue is worth
mentioning. In addition, acid rain and tropospheric ozone formation are classified as global air
pollution problems, thus they might not have a direct impact on the plantation or its
neighborhood. Nevertheless, the impacts of these pollution problems have direct effect on fauna
and flora in addition to the damage it can produce to physical structures and structures of cultural
importance (Cooper et.al., 2002). Transport trucks, machineries and the combustion engines used
on-site and to transport chips and logs between sites are associated with the possible gaseous
emissions from the combustion of fossil fuel. Typical air pollutants that are expected to be
emitted include CO, PM, SO2, NO2, along with HC. Each of the mentioned pollutants has
significant adverse effects whenever present in the atmosphere in high concentrations (Table 5-
2). The gaseous emissions are carried by the winds and have impact on the close surroundings.
Emission levels from company operations are likely to increase significantly as the number of
trucks transportingwoodchipse

2.3.4) IMPACT OF NOISE:

Offsite operations can be significant sources of noise pollution with potential impacts on workers
and nearby residents. The noise emissions are functions of the circulation of the vehicles, use of
generators for energy supply, excavators, skidders, power saws used to cut trees and tree
branches, wood chippers to produce the chips, mulching machine, the loading and transportation
of chips to the port site. Noise that may be generated from the transport of raw material is
negligible and is not anticipated to significantly affect human amenity especially if adequate
noise reduction/suppression measures are undertaken.However, potential impacts on residential
communities from noise generated off-site by power saws, excavators, chippers and mulching
machine is expected to be high if agglomerates exist in close proximity. Such activities will
cause noise nuisance and annoyance to the surroundings when exceeding the permissible limits
and when occurring at early and late hours of the day. The impact of noise from chipping is
expected to decrease significantly as BR Fuel changes to a system of stationary chippers at their
port facility, which is isolated from nearby communities. Noise emissions when exceeding the
average acceptable limit cause damage to the human ear. According to OSHA, occupational
exposure to sound levels higher than 85 dBA within 16 working hours poses a threat to the
working staff and 85 dBA along 8 hours according to NIOSH. This could have irreversible
damages to human ears and create health problems and increase stress on human behavior.Noise
impact is mainly dependant of the size of machine in operation; the level of noise produced
either by one machine or more at a simultaneous time and the duration of the exposure to the
emitted noises was measured. Table 5-4 shows the average noise level various tools/machinery
used by BR Fuel.

2.3.5) IMPACTS ON FLORA AND FAUNA :

Since waste always contains organic matter, a landfill will attract insects, birds and animals, e.g.
scavengers such as vultures, hyenas and jackals feeding on the waste. Insects and some animals,
e.g. rats, breed in the rubbish and can represent a health problem (cf. chapter 3.5). The food in
the landfill can also contribute to the growth of unnaturally large populations of some species,
which will in turn contribute to the displacement of other species, and so imbalance the local
ecosystem. Moreover, species being displaced may be species constituting a part of the
nutritional base for the local population.Large landfills with associated roads can create barriers
that disturb feeding and breeding patterns of fauna, and in other ways occupy vital habitats of
flora and fauna. Landfills should in no way be localized near mangrove swamps or other
especially vulnerable or conservation-worthy ecosystems. Noisy activities can have negative
impacts on fauna, and gases from landfills and incinerators may damage surrounding vegetation.
Pollution of watercourses and canals can cause damage to vegetation, fish and fauna.During the
construction phase of preparing a landfill area, or building a major waste processing plant, an
increased temporary demand for water and energy may arise. If fuel from nearby woods is used,
vulnerable vegetation can bedamaged. A considerably increased use of water may affect the local
water balance, and great care should be shown in dry areas .Dumping of hazardous waste in sea
and lakes can have serious consequences for flora and fauna (cf. chapter 3.6). Toxicants may also
enter into food chains and ultimately affect the health of humans.

2.4) MATHEMATICAL MODEL FOR IMPACT PREDICTION:

2.4.1) CHECKLISTS

More specifically, checklists are prepared as part of the impact prediction step in the Scoping
stage of EIA. This step follows the baseline study, and incorporates most of the data obtained
from it. This impact prediction step seeks to understand which activities of the project is going to
affect which environmental aspects in the study area. Checklist is the simplest form of impact
prediction.The EIA team sits down and simply makes a checklist of the relationship between the
activity and the all the aspects it will impact. It is inexpensive, and generally does not take a lot
of time. Oftentimes, checklist formats for common developmental projects and the aspects it can
impact are already available with government bodies and EIA teams.This form of impact
assessment forces the EIA team to think creatively. They are required to come up with all
possible impacts a project can have. For example, let’s take a proposed oil drilling project. The
drilling itself, is likely to have the following impacts-The drilling action will impact the physical
properties of the soil.The drilling fluid used can alter the chemical as well as physical properties.
It can be potentially fatal to the organisms living there.The drilling will send vibrations laterally
as well as deep into the earth. It can therefore, impact the soil and life in the soil not just in the
drilled area, but areas beyond.The drilling fluid can interact with groundwater, polluting it.
Further, it can go on to impact the populations depending on this groundwater source for their
water needs.Drilling is going cause a lot of noise pollution. Siesmicity generated due to drilling
can impact possible faults below the point of origin. It could potentially trigger earthquakes and
landslides.-

It is important to consider the different levels of impact caused by an activity. For

example, a change in site run-off can affect the hydrology in the watershed (primary impact); it
can also affect the fishes living in the river (secondary impact).Certain effects are temporary,
while others are long-term. Both form of effects need to be identified and specified.Intermittent
effects, caused by freak accidents or abnormal natural events should also be considered.All of
these effects should be viewed individually as well as cumulatively. It is possible that the
cumulative effect a collection of impacts can lead to further impacts on the environment.

How is it done?

In preparing a checklist, first, a list of activities is drawn up. Then, the team looks at the possible
areas within the project area that will be affected by the activity. This is followed by
characterizing the environmental aspects within that area that will be impacted (primary impact).
Then, the scope is broadened to include indirect impacts within the area (secondary impacts).
The team then considers the the indirect impacts of the activity outside the specific area (tertiary
impacts). Finally, temporal aspect and cumulative aspects of the activity are taken into the
picture. Once a list of all possible impacts and their duration is specified, the team compiles the
list into significant and less significant impacts. The significant impacts are given immediate
attention during the planning of the activities of the project. Most of the alternatives suggested to
the project proponent are based on these impacts.Checklists have different variations…

 Simple- Where a list of activities is drawn up against which, the aspects it

will impact is written down.
 Descriptive- Along with the aspects, information on how this aspect is
affected is written down. This is where levels of impact is considered.
 Scaling- Against each impact, a scale of 1-3 is used to quantitatively
estimate the impact (completely subjective).
 Questionnaire- This is what is described above. This also takes
stakeholders’ opinion into account. It is detailed and comprehensive.

Checklists are only recommended for small-scale projects, that is unlikely to affect large areas or
environmental aspects. For larger projects, matrices and networks are better options.

2.4.2) MATRICES:

Simple matrix

This is simply a list of environmental aspects listed along the vertical axis, against which
we determine whether an activity would have an adverse effect, no effect or beneficial effect. A
simple “x” or “tick” is given under the appropriate column.

simple-matrix Sometimes, the activities are listed along the horizontal axis with the
environmental aspects in the vertical axis, and the same “x” is given to those pairs that have an
interaction between themselves.

Leopold matrix

Leopold matrix is a qualitative measurement of environmental/social impacts of a

development project. This matrix consists of a list of 100 project activities on the horizontal axis,
and about 88 environmental/social aspects on the vertical axis. The environmental aspects listed
on the vertical axis are those that are likely to be affected by any of the project activities.This
was designed by Leopold in 1971. Leopold matrix is among the two major forms of matrices
used in EIAs.The cells of the matrix are divided by a diagonal line. The top division is used to
describe the magnitude of the impact that activity will have on the environmental aspect, and the
bottom division is used to describe the significance of that impact.Both, the magnitude and the
significance, are rated on a scale of 1 to 10. This is subjective to the surveyor and is based on the
baseline data collected. If a cell has no division, it means that the activity has no impact on the
environmental aspect.

Disadvantages of Leopold matrix

The one big disadvantage of the Leopold matrix is that it does not explicitly describe spatial and
temporal effects of the environmental activity. It merely gives us the magnitude and significance
of the interaction.Second, it tends to be too simplified when you require a comprehensive
analysis of the impacts on the project area. A numerical value of the magnitude and impact is not
sufficient for a contractor to understand the impact their activities are having and why they
should overcome it.Third, they cannot explain linkages between two environmental aspects.In
other words, it does not describe secondary and tertiary impacts. It is extremely likely that more
than one activity will have multiple levels of impacts on the environmental aspects of the project
area.

Component Interaction Matrix

Environment Canada proposed a different form of matrix in 1974 called the Component
Interaction Matrix to detect indirect impacts systematically and understand them easily. This
overcame a big drawback of the Leopold matrix.Here, instead of taking activities on the
horizontal axis and environmental components on the vertical axis, both axes listed
environmental components. So, if two components were seen to be linked by secondary or
tertiary interactions, they would be marked by 1, 2, etc. And if they are not impacted by multiple
levels of interactions, they would be marked zero.

Others forms of matrices are,

 Modified Graded matrix

 Impact Summary matrix
 Loran matrix

Application of matrices
Matrices can be applied in medium to large scale projects where the number of developmental
activities are many (up to 100). This will obviously result in effects on many environmental
aspects. All of these cannot be covered easily in checklists.It is perfectly acceptable to customize
the matrix according to the project at hand. You are not required by law to have 100 activities
and 88 impacts on each of the axes, if the project does not encompass so many components.
Matrices are flexible, which is why they have been accepted and used the world over.

2.4.3) NETWORKS

The third common method of assessing impacts in EIA is called the Network method (checklists
and matrices are the other two). This was first given by Sorenson in 1971, primarily to explain
linkages between different environmental aspects. It is solely used to illustrate and understand
primary, secondary and tertiary impacts of a developmental activity.

How is it done?

A developmental activity is identified after which, all potential primary impacts are written
down. From these primary impacts, secondary and tertiary impacts are identified and connected
onto the network.

Advantages

Networks help us follow the chain of events of a developmental projects, and its associated
impacts. It can assess multiple impacts at the same time, helping us identify links that can easily
be overlooked in the checklist or matrices forms of impact assessment. It can be aesthetically
pleasing and easy to follow if done in a proper way. Often, networks are called “impact trees”.

Disadvantages

However, networks do have considerable disadvantages. Unlike matrices, networks give no

information at all about the magnitude and the significance of impacts. Further, no matter how
hard you try, the networks can get very long and messy. This is especially the case if the project
being assessed is a large scale project. In order to identify all levels of impacts, considerable
knowledge of the environmental conditions of the project area is required. This puts impetus on
the extent of detail in the baseline study. It is only preferred over other methods when multiple
levels of impacts are expected at every stage of the development.
 UNIT -3
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN

Plan for mitigation of adverse impact on water,air,land,energy,flora and

fauna:

A mitigation plan for these challenges includes power management with

an emphasis on platform power optimization and user experience:
Platform power and optimization: the power management policy should be
inclusive of available hardware resources of the mobile platform and manage
their operation for energy efficiency.

User experience: the usage of mobile devices extends from CPU- or graphics-
intensive usage to sensor-heavy usage. Various location-based services and
applications would require sensors like accelerometers, gyrometers, and
cameras. Applications using touch capabilities would require quick exit from
power-managed states and gaming applications would require higher
throughput with brighter display. Thus it should consider these use cases, and
corresponding system responsiveness requirements.
Risk Management Artifacts
You may know that the documentation of risk was listed as an explicit stage in
the risk management lifecycle; in actuality, you need to document your
assessment and analysis steps all along the way. Six months from now, are you
really going to remember why you rated the likelihood of a particular risk as
moderate instead of high? It is not likely without documenting your rationale
along the way. This documentation needs to capture all the factors that you took
into account when rating the risk and deciding on the appropriate way to
address it. For instance, there may have been compensating controls that
affected your assessment of the risk, or maybe a related risk that contributed to
a higher than usual rating. Especially, if your organization is regulated or the
security program is subject to internal or external audit, this process is critical.
No matter what risk model you use, there is some level of subjectivity when
rating the risks and making decisions about the best ways to address them.

Your risk assessment template should at least capture the following information:

a. Brief risk description

b. Risk rating

c. Why a rating was given

d. Compensating controls considered

e. Risk owner

Documenting Risk Decisions

The artifacts of the risk evaluation step will include either a

documented mitigation plan or a policy exception, or, more than likely, both.
The exception request becomes the mechanism, not just to track the acceptance
of risks but also to document the temporary acceptance of a risk while work is
being done to address it. Policy exceptions will be covered later in this chapter;
but essentially, you need to at least document the following information during
this step.
Making the Right Decision

If we return to our example of the multiple vulnerabilities on the

banking customer , you can think about your options to address these risks in
terms of three main choices:
  Consider the current compensating controls as sufficient, meaning
that they may not meet the letter of the standard, but they
provide equivalent protection.
 Accept the risk as is, which will require a formal policy exception.
 Develop an action plan to address the risks with additional
mitigating controls, a transference of risk, or plan to avoid the risk
entirely.

ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING PLAN

Based on the predicted impacts, present environmental monitoring plan is
designed, suggested & planned for implementation as post project
environmental monitoring program.

Objective of Environmental Monitoring Program

For tracking of the effectiveness of mitigation measures & EMP at

specific interval, regular monitoring of the necessary environmental parameters
is required. With this vision, an environment monitoring program is prepared
based on various components of project & environmental attributes likely to be
affected.

Major objectives of the Environmental Monitoring Program are as under:

1. To comply with the statutory requirements of monitoring for compliance

with conditions of EC, Consent to operate and provisions under Factory
Act & Environmental Protection Act provisions
2. Assessment of the changes in environmental conditions, if any, during
the project operation/activities.
3. Monitoring & tracking the effectiveness of Environment Management
Plan & implementation of mitigation measures planned.
 4. Identification of any significant adverse transformation in environmental
condition to plan additional mitigation measures, if & as required.

Measurement Methodologies

Monitoring of environmental samples shall be done as per the

methods/guidelines provided by MoEF&CC / CPCB and /or relevant Indian
Standards or methods as specified by Standard Methods for Water and
Wastewater Treatment by American Public Health Association (APHA).
Methodology of monitoring (sampling & analysis) shall be documented as SOP
(standard Operating Procedure) for parameters analyzed through in-house
laboratory and shall be subjected to internal audit and review. For monitoring of
workplace area, methods suggested / published by National Institute of
Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), USA or as specified in Standard
Methods for Air Analysis published by APHA shall be adopted.

Budgetary Provisions for EMP

On regular basis, environment management cell shall inspect the

necessity & availability of the materials, technologies, services & maintenance
works. The cell shall make appropriate budget for the purpose. Regular record
review for change in financial requirement of environment management shall be
done and appropriate budgetary provisions shall be made. Budget for
environmental management shall be prepared and revised regularly. The budget
shall include provisions for:

 Environmental Monitoring Program

 Operation & Maintenance of environmental Technologies/Equipment
 Laboratory works for Environmental management activities
 Greenbelt development
 Social & Environmental Welfare & Awareness programs/training
  Annual Environmental Audit
 Emergency Purchase of necessary material, equipment, tools, services

What is environmental monitoring

The main objective of environmental monitoring is to manage and

minimize the impact an organization’s activities have on an environment, either
to ensure compliance with laws and regulations or to mitigate risks of harmful
effects on the natural environment and protect the health of human beings.

As human population, industrial activities, and energy consumption continues to

grow, the continued development of advanced, automated monitoring
applications and devices is crucial for enhancing the accuracy of environmental
monitoring reports and the cost-effectiveness of the environmental monitoring
process.

Monitoring programs are published outlines within an organization that detail

precisely which elements are being monitored, overall objectives, specific
strategies, proposed sampling methods, projects within each strategy, and time
frames.

Environmental monitoring products and environmental monitoring software,

such as Environmental Data Management Systems (EDMS), facilitate the
implementation and monitoring of environmental monitoring and assessment
programs, which includes a central data management hub, automated
environmental monitoring alerts, compliance checking, validation, quality
control, and generation of reports on dataset comparisons.

Environmental Monitoring Types

The three main types of environmental monitoring are soil, atmosphere,

and water. Some techniques of environmental scanning and monitoring include
filtration, sedimentation, electrostatic samples, impingers, absorption,
condensation, grab sampling, and composite sampling.

Data collected from these methods of environmental monitoring can be input

into a DBMS, where it can be categorized, analyzed, visualized, and create
actionable insights that drive informed decision making.

Air Monitoring: Environmental data gathered using specialized observation

tools, such as sensor networks and Geographic Information System (GIS)
models, from multiple different environmental networks and institutes is
integrated into air dispersion models, which combine emissions, meteorological,
and topographic data to detect and predict concentration of air pollutants.

Soil Monitoring: Grab sampling (individual samples) and composite sampling

(multiple samples) are used to monitor soil, set baselines, and detect threats
such as acidification, biodiversity loss, compaction, contamination, erosion,
organic material loss, salinization, and slope instability.

Water Monitoring: Environmental sampling techniques include judgmental,

simple random, stratified, systematic and grid, adaptive cluster, grab, and
passive; semi-continuous and continuous environmental monitoring; remote
sensing and environmental monitoring; and bio-monitoring are used to measure
and monitor ranges for biological, chemical, radiological, microbiological, and
population parameters.

Reasons for Environmental Monitoring Plan

The advantages of environmental monitoring lie in its ability to improve the

quality of life for society by highlighting the relationship between the
environment and health. Transforming environmental monitoring data into
information and communicating actionable insights to the community in a
timely manner is crucial for keeping citizens informed of the state of their
environment.

Practical environmental monitoring applications include protection of public

water supplies, management of hazardous and radioactive waste, identification
and analyzation of pollution sources that affect urban air quality and its effects
on human health, protection and management of natural resources like soil and
water supplies, weather forecasting, resource allocation for land planning and
economic development, identifying population density patterns in relation to
natural resources and economic development, mapping of natural resources,
protection of endangered species, and global climate change.

EIA REPORT PREPARATION

 Development projects in the past were undertaken without any

consideration to their environmental consequences.
 In view of the colossal damage to the environment, governments and
public are now concerned about the environmental impacts of
developmental activities.
 Thus, to assess the environmental impacts, the mechanism of EIA was
introduced.
 EIA is a tool to anticipate the likely environmental impacts that may
arise out of the proposed developmental activities and suggest
mitigation measures and strategies.
 EIA was introduced in India in 1978, with respect to river valley projects.
 Later the EIA legislation was enhanced to include other developmental
sections.
  EIA comes under Notification on Environmental Impact Assessment
(EIA) of developmental projects 1994 under the provisions of
Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
 Besides EIA, the Government of India under Environment (Protection)
Act 1986 issued a number of other notifications, which are related to
environmental impact assessment.
 EIA is now mandatory for more than 30 categories of projects, and these
projects get Environmental Clearance (EC) only after the EIA
requirements are fulfilled.

Overview of the stages of the EIA process

This section very briefly presents an overview of the stages of EIA to help place them
in the context of the whole process.

Screening

The EIA process begins from the very start of a project. Once a developer has
identified a need and assessed all the possible alternatives of project design and sites to
select a preferred alternative, two important questions must be asked: 'What will be
the effects of this development on the environment? Are those effects significant?' If
the answer to the second question is 'yes', an EIA may be required. Answering this
question is a process known as screening and can be an essential first step into a
formal EIA.

The EIA process is, it must be stressed, iterative. This is demonstrated at this early
stage of screening where the requirement for a formal EIA and its associated cost
implications can lead the developer to reassess the project design with a view to
reducing the significant impacts to a level where an EIA is not legally required
(Nielsen et al 2005).

Scoping

Where it is decided that a formal EIA is required, the next stage is to define the issues
that need to be addressed, that is, those impacts that have a significant effect on the
environment. This is known as scoping and is essential for focusing the available
resources on the relevant issues.

Baseline study

Following on from scoping, it is essential to collect all relevant information on the

current status of the environment. This study is referred to as a baseline study as it
provides a baseline against which change due to a development can be measured.

Impact prediction

Once the baseline study information is available, the important task of impact
prediction can begin. Impact prediction involves forecasting the likely changes in the
environment that will occur as a result of the development.

Impact assessment

The next phase involves the assessment of the identified impacts - impact
assessment. This requires interpretation of the importance or significance of the
impacts to provide a conclusion, which can ultimately be used by decision-makers in
determining the fate of the project application.

Mitigation

Frequently, the assessment of impacts will reveal damaging effects upon the
environment. These may be alleviated by mitigation measures. Mitigation involves
taking measures to reduce or remove environmental impacts and it can be seen that
the iterative nature of the EIA process is well demonstrated here. For example,
successful design of mitigation measures could possibly result in the removal of all
significant impacts; hence a new screening exercise would reveal that there might
have been no need to carry out a formal EIA had the mitigation measures been
included from the start.

Public Hearings

Local governments are sometimes required by state law to hold public

hearings. The issues addressed in these public hearings are frequently
contentious, may involve due process rights of private parties, and often
generate litigation, so it is important to know and follow proper hearing
procedures.

While following proper hearing procedures may not eliminate litigation over the
issues addressed in hearings, it will help prevent having the decisions made
following public hearings overturned by the courts on procedural grounds.
Following proper procedures also helps insure that public hearings are
conducted fairly.
What Is a Public Hearing and How Does it Differ From a Public Meeting?

Public meetings are governed by the procedures of the Open Public

Meetings Act, and generally occur whenever a quorum of a governing body
meets together and deals with the business of that body. Although the public is
often allowed to participate in public meetings, public participation is not
required by state law.

A public hearing, on the other hand, is primarily intended to obtain public

testimony or comment before significant decisions are made. A public hearing
can occur as part of a regular or special public meeting or, in some
circumstances, can be entirely separate from a public meeting. A public hearing
is obligatory when due process is required, or when a specific statute or local
regulation requires one. A local government may also hold a public hearing
when it desires public input on a sensitive or controversial policy issue.

Types of Public Hearings

There are two types of public hearings, legislative and quasi-judicial, and
it is important to understand the distinction between them.

Legislative Public Hearings

The purpose of a legislative public hearing is to obtain public input on

important legislative policy matters that affect a wide range of citizens, such as
comprehensive land use plans or the annual budget. Since legislative acts do not
trigger constitutional due process rights, legislative public hearings are
generally subject to fewer procedural requirements than quasi-judicial public
hearings.

The wisdom of legislative decisions, including those made after a public

hearing, is generally not second-guessed by the courts. Instead, courts simply
assess whether the legislative body had the authority to act in the way that it did,
and whether such action was arbitrary and capricious.

Quasi-Judicial Public Hearings

Whereas legislative hearings generally affect a large segment of the

public, quasi-judicial hearings involve the legal rights of specific, identifiable
parties, such as consideration of land-use variances or permits, and site-specific
rezones. Quasi-judicial hearings require due process for the parties involved, so
such hearings tend to have stricter procedural requirements than legislative
hearings.

The decisions made as a result of quasi-judicial hearings should be, and in some
circumstances must be, based upon and supported by the "record" developed at
the hearing.

Environmental Clearance - The Process

The environmental clearance process is required for 39 types of projects and

covers aspects like screening, scoping and evaluation of the upcoming project.
The main purpose is to assess impact of the planned project on the environment
and people and to try to abate/minimise the same.

The process consists of following steps:

• Project proponent identifies the location of proposed plant after ensuring

compliance with existing siting guidelines. If project site does not agree with
the siting guideline, the proponent has to identify other alternative site for the
project
• The project proponent then assesses if the proposed activity/project falls
under the purview of environmental clearance. If it is mentioned in schedule of
the notification, the proponent conducts an EIA study either directly or
through a consultant. If the project falls in B category, the project goes to state
government for clearance which further categorise into B1 and B2 projects. B2
projects doe not require preparation of EIA reports.

• After the EIA report is ready, the investor approaches the concerned State
Pollution Control Board (SPCB) and the State Forest Department (if the location
involves use of forestland). The SPCB evaluates and assesses the quantity and
quality of effluents likely to be generated by the proposed unit as well as the
efficacy of the control measures proposed by the investor to meet the
prescribed standards. If the SPCB is satisfied that the proposed unit will meet
all the prescribed effluent and emissions standards, it issues consent to
establish (popularly known as NOC), which is valid for 15 years.

• The public hearing is a mandatory step in the process of environmental

clearance for certain developmental projects. This provides a legal space for
people of an area to come face-to-face with the project proponent and the
government and express their concerns.

The process of public hearing is conducted prior to the issue of NOC from
SPCB. The District Collector is the chairperson of the public hearing
committee. Other members of the committee includes the official from the
district development body, SPCB, Department of Environment and Forest,
Taluka and Gram Panchayat representative, and senior citizen of the district,
etc. The hearing committee hears the objections/suggestions from the public and
after inserting certain clauses it is passed on to the next stage of approval.
• The project proponent submits an application for environmental clearance
with the MoEF if it falls under Project A category or the state government if it
falls under project B category. The application form is submitted with EIA
report, EMP, details of public hearing and NOC granted by the state
regulators.

• Environmental appraisal: The documents submitted by an investor are first

scrutinised by a multi-disciplinary staff functioning in the Ministry of
Environment and Forests who may also undertake site-visits wherever
required, interact with the investors and hold consultations with experts on
specific issues as and when necessary. After this preliminary scrutiny, the
proposals are placed before specially constituted committees of experts whose
composition is specified in the EIA Notification. Such committees, known as
Environmental Appraisal Committees have been constituted for each sector
such as River Valley, Industries, Mining etc. and these committees meet
regularly to appraise the proposals received in the Ministry. In case of certain
very special/controversial projects, which have aroused considerable public
interest, the committee may also decide to arrange for public hearings on
those projects to ensure public participation in developmental decisions.
Announcements for such public hearing shall be made atleast 30 days before
through newspapers. On the basis of the exercise described in the foregoing
paragraphs, the Appraisal Committees make their recommendations for
approval or rejection of particular projects. The recommendations of the
Committees are then processed in the Ministry of Environment and
Forests for approval or rejection.

• Issues of clearance or rejection letter: When a project requires both

environmental clearance as well as approval under the Forest (Conservation)
Act, 1980. Proposals for both are required to be given simultaneously to the
concerned divisions of the ministry. The processing is done simultaneously for
clearance/rejection, although separate letters may be issued. If the project does
not involve diversion of forest land, the case is processed only for
environmental clearance.

Once all the requisite documents and data from the project authorities are
received and public hearings (where required) have been held, assessment and
evaluation of the project from the environment angle is completed within 90
days and the decision of the ministry shall be conveyed within 30 days
thereafter. The clearance granted shall be valid for a period of five years for
commencements of the construction or operation of the project.

Industrial projects located in any of the following notified ecologically

fragile/sensitive areas would require environmental clearance irrespective
of the type of project:
• Religious and historic places
• Archaeological monuments
• Scenic areas
• Hill resorts
• Beach resorts
• Coastal areas rich in mangroves, corals, breeding grounds of specific species
• Estuaries
• Gulf areas
• Biosphere reserves
• National parks and sanctuaries
• National lakes and swamps
• Seismic zones
• Tribal settlements
• Areas of scientific and geological interest
• Defence installations, especially those of security importance and sensitive
to pollution
• Border areas (international)
• Airports
 UNIT-4
SOCIO ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT
EBM: Environmental Baseline Monitoring (EBM)
The term ‘baseline’ refers to conditions exiting before development against which
subsequent changes can be referenced. EP act typically specifies that an EIA report
should contain an environmental inventory to study the existing environment that
would be or might be affected directly or indirectly by a proposed project.
Environmental Baseline Monitoring (EBM) is a very important state of EIA. In
fact, one can say that for an EIA in India the EBM is the center of gravity. On one
hand EBM plays a very vital role in EIA and on the other hand it provides
feedback about the actual environmental impacts of a project. EBM during the
operational phase helps in judging the success of mitigation measures in protecting
the environment. They are also used to ensure compliance with environmental
standards, and to facilitate any needed project design or operational changes.
Monitoring refers to the collection of data through a series of repetitive
measurements of environmental parameters. The environmental quality monitoring
programme design depends on the monitoring objectives specified for the selected
area of interest. The main types of monitoring activities are: baseline monitoring,
effects monitoring and compliance monitoring.
Baseline Monitoring:
The measurement of environmental parameters during a pre-project period for the
purpose of determining the range of variation of the system and establishing
reference points against which changes can be measured. This leads to the
assessment of the possible (additional available) assimilative capacity of the
environmental components in pre-project period with respect to standard or target
level.
Effects of monitoring : Measurement of environmental parameters during project
construction and implementation to detect changes which are attributable to the
project to provide the necessary information to: verify the accuracy of EIA
predictions; and determine the effectiveness of measures to mitigate adverse
effects of projects on the environment. Feedback from environmental effect
monitoring programs may be used to improve the predictive capability of ElAs and
also determine whether more or less stringent mitigation measures are needed a
Compliance Monitoring:
The periodic sampling or continuous measurement of environmental parameters
to ensure that regulatory requirements and standard are being met. Compliance and
effects monitoring occurs during the project construction, operation, and
abandonment stages. The resources and institutional set-up should be available for
the: monitoring at these stages. All large-scale construction projects will require
some construction stage monitoring. To control the environmental hazards of
construction as specified in the ETA, a monitoring program should be established
to ensure that each mitigation measure is effectively implemented. There are
numerous potential areas for monitoring during operations.

Before any field monitoring tasks are undertaken, there are many institutional,
scientific, and fiscal issues that must be addressed in the implementation of an
environmental monitoring program. Careful, consideration of these issues in the
design and planning stages will help avoid many of the pitfalls associated with
environmental monitoring programs. Although these issues are important but the
discussions here are confined to the monitoring network design component.

IDENTIFICATION OF PROJECT AFFECTED PERSONAL

Who is a Project Who Affected Person (PAP)?

Development projects such as dams, mines, industries, roads, power plants and
others need vast tracts of land for setting up and expansion of existing
infrastructure. A typical thermal power plant of 1000 megawatts would need about
800 hectares of land. Normally the lands to be acquired for such projects are
already used for different purposes like residential, agricultural, business, public
utility and others. The persons utilising these lands for living, cultivating and
practising any other activity, with or without legal ownership may need to give up
the activity and/ or lose the land and structures thereon, fully or partially for the
project. These persons are therefore affected adversely or negatively and are called
Project Affected Persons (PAPs). In other words, a project affected persons is
anyone affected by land acquisition, relocation, or loss of incomes associated with
project-changes in use of land, water and other natural resources. Although
projects often have many adverse impacts by way of displacing or affecting shelter,
business or any other activity, they also have positive impacts on certain
populations who can be called ‘beneficiaries’ of the project. Our concern here is
for those affected adversely or negatively by the project since they require
resettlement and rehabilitation in restoring or improving their previous living
standards.

Definition of PAP in Various Acts and Policies

In this section, we shall look at the manner in which the PAPs have been defined
under the various international as well as national policies and Acts.

1) Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Involuntary Resettlement Policy, 1995 As

per the ADB policy, the term affected person includes any people, households,
firms or private institutions who, on account of changes that result from the project
will have their (i) standard of living adversely affected; (ii) right, title, or other
interest in any house, land (including residential, commercial, agricultural, forest,
and/or grazing land), water resources, or any other moveable or fixed assets
acquired, possessed, restricted, or otherwise adversely affected, in full or part,
permanently or temporarily; and/or (iii) business, occupation, place of work or
residence, or habitat adversely affected, with or without displacement (ADB
Operations Manual F2/BP Footnote 3).The World Bank was one of the first
international institution to come up with a comprehensive policy on involuntary
resettlement. The Bank broadly defines the “Project affected persons” as persons
affected by land acquisition, relocation, or loss of incomes associated with change
in land use due to the project. The World Bank Operational Policy on Involuntary
resettlement OP 4.12, December 2001 defines the term “displaced persons” as
persons who are affected by the involuntary taking of land resulting in (i)
relocation or loss of shelter; (ii) lost of assets or access to assets; or (iii) loss of
income sources or means of livelihood, whether or not the affected persons must
move to another location; or (iv) the involuntary restriction of access to legally
designated parks and protected areas resulting in adverse impacts on the
livelihoods of the displaced persons. For details see also Unit 69, MRR-005. In
India, compensation for land acquisition (LA) and resettlement assistance for
project-affected people, until very recently, was governed by the Land Acquisition
(LA) Act of 1894 which has categories of ‘person interested’ and ‘displaced
person’. In section 3 (b) of the LA Act 1894, a ‘person interested’ includes all
persons claiming an interest in compensation to be made on account of the
acquisition of land under this Act; and a person shall be deemed to be interested in
land if he is interested in an easement affecting the land (also see Unit 6 in MRR-
101). The term includes all persons who suffer or are likely to suffer displacement
on account of intended acquisitions of land or agricultural labourers and all other
labourers and all persons who depend on land intended to be acquired for their
right to livelihood, customary or otherwise (Fernandes and Paranjype 1997: In
other words, an individual should have an interest in the land, which is being
acquired. Such an interest may be an absolute one such as that of an owner or a
partial one such as that of a tenant or a licensee. In section 3(h) of the L.A. Act
1894, a ‘displaced person’ means any person who is in occupation of revenue land,
with or without a patta, forest land or one who is enjoying the usufructs of the
forest land and other common property resources, the fisherfolk, grazers, the
agricultural labourers, semi-nomads who occupy that area periodically, small
traders, village artisans who reside in the affected zone and for the purpose of the
project have been displaced from such land or other property (Fernandes and
Paranjype 1997: 256). For details on LAA see also MRR-101, Units 07, 08 and 09.
4) National Policy on Resettlement & Rehabilitation (NPRR), 2004Since the LA
Act only provides for cash compensation for the land acquired (private property)
and does not require the Government to ensure the resettlement and rehabilitation
or livelihood restoration of those families who are uprooted as a consequence of
acquisition of their land, it was felt necessary to have a specific policy that can
address the impacts of development-induced displacement in a comprehensive
manner. As a result, a National Policy on Resettlement & Rehabilitation has been
adopted by the Government of India (GOI). This policy is applicable to all
developmental projects where 500 or more families’ en masse in plain areas or 250
or more families’ en masse in hilly areas are displaced due to project activity. It
essentially addresses the need to provide succor to the assetless rural poor, supports
the rehabilitation efforts of the resources and provides a broad canvas for an
effective consultation between PAFs and authorities responsible for their R&R.
The policy also recognises the special needs of the vulnerable groups such as
indigenous people & BPL families. The NPRR defines both displaced
persons/family” and “project affected persons/family”. Section 3.1.q of the policy
defines a “project affected family” as a family/person whose place of residence or

other properties or source of livelihood are substantially affected by the process of

acquisition of land for the project and who has been residing continuously for a
period of not less than three years preceding the date of declaration of the affected
zone or practicing any trade, occupation or vocation continuously for a period of
not less than three years in the affected zone, preceding the date of declaration of
the affected zone. Whereas a “displaced family” refers to any tenure holder, tenant,
government lessee or owner of the other property, who on account of acquisition of
his land including plot in the abadi or other property in the affected zone for the
purpose of the Project, has been displaced from such land or other property
(Section 3.1.i).

CATEGORIES OF DEVELOPMENT INDUCED PAPs

Persons affected by development projects can be broadly categorised into people

who are namely,

i) directly affected by the project

ii) indirectly affected by the project.

Directly affected PAPs include those whose lands and/ or structures are fully or
partially acquired for the project namely:

i) Owners of houses, businesses, agricultural land and other structures

ii) Those using the land and/ or structures of others with no ownership but are
dependent on the lands and/ or structures for their dwelling or livelihood purposes
like agriculture, residential tenants, labour working on the lands and commercial
establishments. The directly affected PAPs can be further classified into three main
categories (a) titleholders and (b) non-titleholders and (c)those with customary
users rights.

Directly Affected PAPs:

Titleholders, Non-titleholders and Users Rights .The difference between these

three categories of directly affected PAPs is dependent upon the asset ownership
status. The persons who own a movable or fixed asset with a valid legal title are
called titleholders whereas those without any legal ownership comprise of non-
titleholders. The non-titleholders mainly comprise of tenants, sharecroppers,
landless/wage labourers, squatters and vendors (on public land) without land titles
or ownership rights on the affected land. The third category of affected PAPs
constitutes of customary users’ groups with customary/traditional rights to the land
and other resources affected by the Project. This group mainly comprises of
indigenous or tribal groups without any formal land titles. Table 25.1 Possible
categories of APs without Land titles or Ownership Rights Table 25.1 Possible
categories of APs without Land titles or Ownership Rights

i) Tenants/Sharecroppers

ii) Landless/wage laborers

iii) Squatters and vendors:

vi) Indigenous or Tribal people

v) Women and especially female heads of households

Indirectly Affected PAPs :

The indirect affects of displacement are generally in the form of deprivation of

access to common property resources (CPRs) and public utilities and new
pressures exerted on the socio-economic infrastructure of the host population.

i ) Loss of Access to CPR and Public Utilities: The setting up or expansion of a

project may not only affect people directly, but may also deprive some from
accessing community resources and public utilities such as grazing pastures,
community well, public offices, electricity etc. In rural India, the poor derive some
income support from a wide range of community resources, in addition to those
owned by them. For example, acquisition of grazing pastures for Ramagundam
National Thermal Power Corporation has caused reduction in cattle population and
consequent fall in the income levels of those dependent on milk business
(Parasuraman, Singh and Prasad 1995). Loss of access to community water tanks
for a project means loss of a permanent water source as well as potential impact on
ground water table. This would affect the people by way of losing water for
domestic

purpose and affecting irrigation potential of the region, although they do not lose
anything directly to the project.

ii) Host Area Population: The receiving population wherein the displaced are
resettled constitutes the host population. The host population, in general, would be
affected because the larger population after relocation competes for public utilities,
natural resources and local employment. Conflicts may also arise because of
extension of assistance to the DPs and PAPs discriminating against the host
population. Check Your Progress 1
i) What do you understand by the term ‘Project Affected Persons’ (PAPs)?

ii) Name the main categories of development induced PAPs.

iii) List down the three main types of directly affected PAPs.

iv) List the adverse affects of displacement faced by the indirectly affected PAPs.

IDENTIFICATION OF PAPs :

The time context in identification of PAPs has become important in view of large-
scale displacement of PAPs in the old development projects. They were
implemented inadequate or there were no R&R measures. This leads to the
emerging awareness among stakeholders and researchers to address these old PAPs
in the changing social setting.

i) Current and Future Projects The current and future projects are the ones, which
are yet to be implemented and are at the conceptual stage. These projects have
sufficient time to inform the project communities on the scope of the project and
its impact; consult community on their perceptions on the project and its impact as
well as the mitigation R&R measures and based on this plan the entire process of
R&R right from the pre-project stage.

ii) Old and Executed ProjectsParanjpye, 1997). With changing social awareness,
particularly on the rights of the PAPs, the completing the old projects. electoral
records, ration cards, electricity bills etc.

REHABILITATION AND RESETTLEMENT PLAN :

As a socially conscious enterprise, NTPC has been very sensitive to the needs of
the Project Affected Persons (PAP's) unsettled by the construction of a plant. The
population getting affected by such projects/plants need to be given special
attention to protect their rights, minimise their losses and to help them to restore a
secure means of livelihood. In line with its social objectives, NTPC has always
paid greater attention to developing robust rehabilitation strategies focusing on the
effective rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) of PAPs and also community
development works in and around the projects. The corporation is passionate about
ensuring that sense of displacement felt in the local communities is minimal. As
one of the pioneers in formulating comprehensive resettlement and rehabilitation
policies for addressing the issue of PAPs, it is considered a flag bearer on this issue
in the corporate sector. To address social issues at the exploratory stage of its
prospective Greenfield/Expansion projects and to win the confidence of local
population of such projects by way of building positive image of the company.

Rehabilitation is a slow and continuous process, which requires an organized effort

over time. NTPC’s R&R policy formulations are driven by the objective that over
a period of time, the affected community regains,if not improves their previous /
customary standard of living and production levels. As per the Policy, a detailed
Socio-economic Survey (SES) is conducted by a professional agency to create a
baseline data of prospective Project Affected Persons (PAPs). This follows
formulation of a ‘Rehabilitation and Resettlement Plan’ (R&R Plan) after adequate
consultation with stakeholders in the Village Development Advisory Committee
(VDAC), which comprises representatives of PAPs, Gram Panchayats, NTPC and
District Administration. R&R Plan consists of measures for rehabilitation,
resettlement and community development issues. Rehabilitation is a slow and
continuous process, which requires an organized effort over time. NTPC’s R&R
policy formulations are driven by the objective that over a period of time, the
affected community regains, if not improves their previous / customary standard of
living and production levels. As per the Policy, a detailed Socio-economic Survey
(SES) is conducted by a professional agency to create a baseline data of
prospective Project Affected Persons (PAPs). This follows formulation of a
‘Rehabilitation and Resettlement Plan’ (R&R Plan) after adequate consultation
with stakeholders in the Village Development Advisory Committee (VDAC),
which comprises representatives of PAPs, Gram Panchayats, NTPC and District
Administration. R&R Plan consists of measures for rehabilitation, resettlement and
community development issues.

On the successful completion of the R&R plan, a ‘Social Impact Evaluation (SIE)’
is carried out via a professional agency to evaluate the efficacy of R&R Plan
implementation for future learning and course corrections. Further, need based
community development activities are continued to be undertaken in the
neighbouring areas of the project under NTPC’s Corporate Social Responsibility-
Community and Development (CSR-CD) Policy after the R&R Plan is completed.
To ensure that our project specific Rehabilitation and Resettlement Plans are all
encompassing and the most comprehensive possible, local State Government’s
R&R policy, Sector specific and Government directives including The Ministry of
Environment & Forests stipulations are painstakingly considered and incorporated
in the formulation of the plan.

ECONOMIC VALUATION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL

IMPACTS OF THE PROJECT
GENERAL OBJECTIVE
Conduct an economic valuation of environmental impacts generated by the
Rumichaca Pasto Divided Highway Project, San Juan – Pedregal Segment, on the
physical, biotic and socioeconomic components in its pre construction,
construction and operation stages.

EVALUATION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS ASSESSMENT:

This study explores and seeks to explain the EIA procedures practice gap in Lao
PDR. It reviews the literature and studies EIA legislation, administrative
procedures, guidelines, and relevant documents by using a model proposed by Leu
et al.(1996) and applying criteria proposed by Wood (1995) to evaluate the
performance of EIA systems. Key EIA legislation in Lao PDR has many strengths,
but also major weaknesses: Inadequate planning procedures, no secondary
regulations, few trained and skilled personnel, inadequate public consultation, lack
of environmental data, weak follow-up and monitoring, and no enforcement
machinery. Additionally, the EIA approval procedure is very bureaucratic and
easily derailed by political and economic pressures. In addition, coordination
among EIA proponents, consultants, concerned ministries, local authorities,
planners, and decision-makers is generally weak. This delays decision-making and
hinders implementation of environmental regulations. Thus, procedures and
evaluation are not always performed well. EIAs are more a project justification
tool than a project planning tool for sustainable development. We conclude with
recommendations to strengthen the system, such as improving capacity building,
implementing an EIA consultants’ accreditation system, ensuring effective public
participation and access to EIA reports, applying systematic EIAs, reviewing
criteria, and promoting environmental awareness.

COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS :

Cost–benefit analysis (CBA), sometimes also called benefit–cost analysis, is a
systematic approach to estimating the strengths and weaknesses of alternatives
used to determine options which provide the best approach to achieving benefits
while preserving savings. For example, in transactions, activities, and functional
business requirements.[1] A CBA may be used to compare, completed or potential
courses of actions. Also to estimate (or evaluate) the value against the cost of a
decision, project, or policy. It is commonly used in commercial transactions,
business or policy decisions (particularly public policy), and project investments.
For example, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has to conduct cost-
benefit analysis before instituting regulation.

CBA has two main applications:

To determine if an investment (or decision) is sound, ascertaining if – and by how

much – its benefits outweigh its costs.To provide a basis for comparing
investments (or decisions), comparing the total expected cost of each option with
its total expected benefits.CBA is related to cost-effectiveness analysis. Benefits
and costs in CBA are expressed in monetary terms and are adjusted for the time
value of money; all flows of benefits and costs over time are expressed on a
common basis in terms of their net present value, regardless of whether they are
incurred at different times. Other related techniques include cost–utility analysis,
risk–benefit analysis, economic impact analysis, fiscal impact analysis, and social
return on investment (SROI) analysis. Cost–benefit analysis is often used by
organizations to appraise the desirability of a given policy. It is an analysis of the
expected balance of benefits and costs, including an account of any alternatives
and the status quo. CBA helps predict whether the benefits of a policy outweigh its
costs (and by how much), relative to other alternatives. This allows the ranking of
alternative policies in terms of a cost–benefit ratio.[4] Generally, accurate cost–
benefit analysis identifies choices which increase welfare from a utilitarian
perspective. Assuming an accurate CBA, changing the status quo by implementing
the alternative with the lowest cost–benefit ratio can improve Pareto efficiency.[5]
Although CBA can offer an informed estimate of the best alternative, a perfect
appraisal of all present and future costs and benefits is difficult; perfection, in
economic efficiency and social welfare, is not guaranteed.[6] The value of a cost–
benefit analysis depends on the accuracy of the individual cost and benefit
estimates. Comparative studies indicate that such estimates are often flawed,
preventing improvements in Pareto and Kaldor–Hicks efficiency.[7] Interest
groups may attempt to include (or exclude) significant costs in an analysis to
influence its outcome.[8]
 Unit – 5

EIA Case Studies

Airport Authority of India Pune International Airport

Pune Airport (Aerodrome Code 4C) belongs to Ministry of Defense (IAF). The airfield was
established in 1939 as RAF Poona to provide air security to the city of Bombay (now
Mumbai). The base was home to World War II squadrons of de Havilland Mosquito and
Vickers Wellington bombers and Super Marine Spitfire fighter aircraft. In May 1947, the
Royal Indian Air Force took charge of the airfield. The Pune Airport was declared as a
customs airport in January 1997 for the export of specified goods. With effect from 12
December 2005, Pune Airport was certified as an international airport for the clearance of
passengers and baggage. AAI is maintaining the Civil Air Terminal complex for facilitation
of civil aircraft operation. Indian Air force is providing air traffic services. Pune Airport is a
Custom Civil Enclave. Pune Airport is connected to several domestic and international
destinations including all major cities in India such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai,
Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Indore, Lucknow and International destinations such as Frankfurt,
Singapore etc. Air India, Jet Airways, Jet Lite, Indigo, Spice Jet, Go Air, Lufthansa are
operating at the airport. During the year 2017-18 Pune Airport handled 8,164,840 passengers.

Importance and Benefits of the Project

The passenger handling capacity of the existing old terminal building at Pune Airport has
saturated. In view of the future traffic growth at Pune Airport, there is an urgent requirement
of New Integrated Terminal Building, Reconstruction of Old Terminal Building,
Modification of existing expanded Terminal Building, Associated City Side facilities, Multi -
Level Car Park and Cargo Terminal at the Pune airport premises on the land provided by
Indian Airforce. The direct and indirect benefits of the New Integrated Terminal Building,
Reconstruction of Old Terminal Building, Modification of existing expanded Terminal
Building, Associated City Side facilities, Multi -Level Car Park and Cargo Terminal are as
follows: Better infrastructure facilities for air passengers Promotion of tourism, trade,
commerce, etc Increase in regional economy as it will boost tourism and commercial
activities in the region. Generation of more revenue to the state, hence more development of
the region. More employment opportunity to people. More business and industrial
opportunities.
Location of Pune Airport Pune:

Airport is located approximately 10 km northeast of Pune in the state of Maharashtra, India.

The airport is a civil enclave operated by the Airports Authority of India at the eastern side of
Lohegaon Air Force Station of the Indian Air Force.

Proposed Development at the Existing Airport

Under the proposed project, construction of new integrated terminal building, reconstruction
of old terminal building, modification of existing expanded terminal building, associated city
side facilities, expansion of apron and link taxiway track, multi -level car park and cargo
terminal at the Pune Civil Enclave are proposed. The scope of work for proposed
development at Pune Civil Enclave is given below

Cutting & Filling

The new terminal building and associated facilities at Pune Airport will be above ground.
However, 5 m deep basement covering an area 11986 sqm will be constructed. For
construction of the proposed facilities at the Pune Airport, approximately 98000 cum
excavated earth will be generated from the proposed site. Entire quantity of excavated earth
from the site will be used for filling and leveling undulating areas within Indian Airforce
premises.

Parking Facilities and Traffic Management Plan

Multilevel car parking with all amenities for at least 1000 cars with additional future
provision for 500 cars and surface parking for VIP cars & 10 buses, separate car / scooter
park area for AAI and airlines staff at appropriate location. 2 floors of commercial space and
other passenger facilities i.e. ground and first floor shall be provided in the multilevel car
park. Multilevel Car Parking shall be made for retailer in car parking area and it will be
developed on Built & Operate System and shall include its space planning and model for its
operations.

AC Equipment

The AC plant room is located in the utility block near to terminal building; chilled water
headers will travel through the main service tunnel and reach to the terminal building from
where chilled water pipes will rise to individual floors to cater the air conditioning loads.

Site Planning

a) Passive design strategies such as shading device, overhangs, vertical fins etc. shall be
considered to control heat gain through envelope and maximize day light penetration.
b) Preservation of existing vegetation / water bodies / other topographical features if
applicable.
c) Strategies like Vegetation will be adopted in reduction of heat islands at microclimate
level.
d) Solar photovoltaics in roof areas as passive measure to heat gain reduction.
Construction Management

a) Top soil shall be preserved at site and shall be re-used later for landscaping purpose.
b) There are 31 trees at the site. Out of 31 trees, 19 trees will be cut for construction of new
terminal building. For cutting of 19 trees, 57 trees (3 trees for every 1 tree cut) of native
species will be planted.

Water

a) An estimated 30% reduction in landscaping water demand in comparison with GRIHA

base case shall be arrived using native species/drought tolerant species.
b) Potable water shall conform to BIS standards.
c) Sewage treatment plant shall confirm to Central Pollution Control Board norms.

Performance Monitoring & Validation

a) Digital energy meters shall be provided for all major energy end-uses.
b) Water metering shall be provided for all major water use

Risk Mitigation Measures

The risk mitigation measures already being taken at Pune Civil Enclave are as given below:
Prompt action in the event of an accidental release of HSD or ATF is essential. Where there
is a possibility of a flammable liquid spill, provisions have been made to ensure as follows:
(i) the spread of the spill is limited

(ii) nonflammable absorbent material is available for immediate use

(iii) ignition sources can be quickly removed and

(iv) the area is well ventilated. Routine testing and inspection are carried out for storage area,
hoses and fueling tanker and record will be maintained. Leakages from tanker is prevented by
a suitable regime of preventive maintenance and inspection.

Social Impact Assessment and R&R Action Plan

The existing Pune Civil Enclave covers 26.01 Acres. For proposed new integrated terminal
building, reconstruction of old terminal building, modification of existing expanded terminal
building, associated city side facilities, multi -level car park and cargo terminal at Civil
Enclave 15.86 Acres land has been provided by Indian air force. No private land and
displacement of person is involved in the project. Therefore, Social Impact Assessment and
R&R Action plan is not required as there is no project affected person because of no land
acquisition.

Public Hearing for New Terminal Building at Pune Airport

The public hearing for the proposed New Terminal Building and Associated works by
Airports Authority of India at Pune Airport was conducted on 29/08/2018 at 11.00 AM at
Pune Airport by Maharashtra Pollution Control Board

Environmental Management Plan

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will be responsible for the implementation of
mitigation measures suggested in EMP for construction and operation phases for new
integrated terminal building and associated works.

Reporting and Monitoring System

Reporting system provides the necessary feedback for project management to ensure quality
of the work and that the programs are on schedule. The rationale for a reporting system is
based on accountability to ensure that the mitigation measures proposed as part of the
Environmental Management and Action Plan gets implemented during construction and
operation phase of the proposed new terminal building. The reporting system will operate
linearly with the contractor who is at the lowest step of the implementation system to the
project management and will report to AAI.
 Samoa: Alaoa Multi-purpose Dam Project

Project Description:

The project comprises the construction and operation of a 60m high dam on two of the four
Vaisigano River sub-catchments. The dam will be constructed to contain flows in the eastern
and middle eastern sub-catchments of the Vaisigano River watershed. Flows in the central
and western sub-catchments will be unaffected. The feasibility study consultant (Entura) has
been appointed and conducted a technical review of different arrangements to provide flood
protection; water supply and hydropower generation and determined that a roller compacted
concrete (RCC) design, is the most suitable option in terms of safety, efficiency and cost to
protect the citizens of Apia and Samoa’s goal for resilience to natural disasters such as
flooding, self-sufficiency in water supply and sustainable electric power generation (Figure
ES 2) . The funding for the project will be in the form of grants from ADB and other sources.
The precise arrangement for the grants is still under discussion and negotiation.

Alternatives:

The “No Action” alternative is defined as a decision not to undertake the proposed dam
construction. The “No Action” alternative means that there will be no flood protection
provided to the infrastructure, people and property in the Vaisigano Catchment. Analysis of
climate change carried out as part of this project suggests that major storm events are likely to
increase in frequency and that more extreme storm events are likely, therefore a ‘no project
scenario’ would have major social and economic consequences on the population of Apia.

Land Ownership, Land Acquisition and Resettlement:

No permanent land acquisition of any kind (voluntary or involuntary) is expected under the
current project scope and design. Nearly all proposed project works that fall under the scope
of this EIA study are located within a single piece of government (public) land totalling 1,851
hectares that covers substantially all of the middle and upper watershed of the Vaisigano
River. Records show that the government acquired the land underlying the entire project area
in 1921 in a manner that accords with ADB SPS and with applicable national laws.

Key Environmental Impacts :

  There are no human pollution sources identified within the project footprint. A project
specific environmental baseline established and confirmed low levels of air, noise and
water pollution.
 The draft EIA findings are that all the potential adverse environmental impacts of the
proposed final design can be prevented, mitigated and/or offset to ensure that SPS
requirements can be met and positive impacts strengthened as a result of design and
implementation of mitigation and enhancement measures identified in the
environmental management plan (EMP) and other plans—biodiversity management
and monitoring plan (BMMP) and biodiversity offsetting plan (BOP), currently under
preparation. Public consultations held in 2018-2019 suggested strong public support
for the project particularly the alleviation of flooding impacts. Though concerns were
raised about the safety of the dam based on media reporting of dam failures in other
countries; the selected design is considered to be safe and tested over many years of
service in other countries and the dam will be designed to the most robust of design
standards. A dam safety analysis has been undertaken as part of the feasibility study.

Natural and Critical Habitat Assessment:

The Project footprint overlaps a mosaic of natural and modified habitat, comprising
secondary forest – including non-native species – and mixed subsistence farming. The Project
is on the edge of a large forested landscape. Downstream rivers have been degraded by
cumulative impacts from existing weirs, but upstream rivers remain mostly natural habitat.
The Natural and Critical Habitat Assessment identified this landscape to be possible or actual
critical habitat for: one globally critically endangered and one endangered bird (Tooth-billed
Pigeon and Mao); two endangered lizards (Olive Small-scaled Skink and Samoa Skink); three
least concern, one data deficient and one not evaluated fish species (Fat-snout Goby,
Stenogobius genivittatus, Green Riffle Goby, Stiphodon hydroreibatus, and Schismatogobius
tuimanua); an Endangered snail (Thaumatodon hystricelloides); one critically endangered and
one endangered palm (Drymophloeus samoensis and Clinostigma samoense); and the Apia
Catchments Key Biodiversity Area.

Key mitigation measures:

 A strict code of conduct forbidding hunting/trapping, and purchase of wildlife, with

heavy penalties. Training personnel on this code of conduct, and its justification
  Install staffed access control on new roads, allowing access to no-one except
operational staff, or government officials
 Engage and educate the local community, including providing incentives to conserve
priority biodiversity - such as employment in restoration, invasive species control and
monitoring and
 Taking care to avoid introduction of new invasive species to, and spread of existing
invasive species within, the Project area.
 Prior to finalization of project designs and any clearance, identify, clearly mark and
map all mature native trees, to facilitate avoidance and minimization.
 Minimize clearance of native vegetation at the Project site and around associated
roads and other infrastructure; using already cleared or modified areas for
construction wherever possible. Prioritize avoidance of Ficus and Dysoxylum trees
(which may provide seasonal food sources for Tooth-billed Pigeon), and attempt to
relocate any of these which cannot be avoided.
 Replant native vegetation (including Dysoxylum species) in any temporarily
disturbed areas.
 Regularly maintain and inspect/certificate all vehicles, equipment and machinery to
ensure that noise levels conform to national standards.
 Avoid construction during the most sensitive Mao breeding period (June-August
inclusive).
 Avoid construction within 150 m of an occupied Tooth-billed Pigeon or Mao nests.
 Educate local people on the dangers of deliberate introductions of invasive species.
21. After these mitigation measures, and the offsetting measures to be designed and
implemented through the BOP, the Project is predicted to achieve no net loss for
most critical habitat-qualifying biodiversity. Residual impacts on this priority
biodiversity are expected to remain measurable by the Project operations phase,
particularly direct loss of terrestrial and aquatic habitat, and degradation of upstream
habitats by prevention of aquatic species’ migration past the dam, and downstream
degradation of aquatic habitat and fragmentation of terrestrial habitat owing to the
Project access roads and reservoir.

Environmental Flow:
The Vaisigano River provides habitat for six migratory fish and seven migratory crustacean
species, including reaches within the proposed inundation zone and in the reaches upstream
of the inundation zone in the east and middle-east branches. All of the migratory species
present have to move between freshwater and marine habitats to complete their life cycle.
The reaches assessed as modified and natural habitat have been assessed as providing critical
habitat for five species of migratory fish 26. Regulation has significantly reduced the flow
regime in the five kilometres of the east branch downstream the offtake for the Fale ole Fee
Power Scheme; the 1.3 kilometre reach of the middle branch downstream from the offtake for
the Alaoa Scheme; and, the 4.2 kilometre reach of the main branch downstream from
Samasoni Weir to the tailrace for Samasoni Power Scheme. These reaches experience zero
flow for extended periods each year, provide no aquatic habitat and reduce the pathways for
migratory species to move up and downstream.

Environmental benefits:

 Restore permanent aquatic habitat to 4.2 kilometres of the main channel downstream
from the Samasoni Weir and the final 1.3 kilometre reach of the middle branch
before it joins the west branch.
 Allow populations of goby, eel, shrimp, prawn and macroinvertebrate to establish in
these reaches.
 Restore connectivity and migratory pathways from the sea to the upper reaches of the
catchment. Specifically, a permanent baseflow will increase opportunities for.
 The downstream migration of larval gobies, prawns and shrimps to reach the sea
 Adult eels to migrate downstream to the sea to breed.
 Upstream migration of juvenile gobies, eels, prawns and shrimps from the lower
reaches and the sea.
 Provide social benefits for increased access to permanent flowing reaches for
washing and recreational fishing

Construction Phase Environmental Impacts:

Air quality: During construction, air quality may be degraded by a range of operational
activities including; exhaust emissions from construction machinery; rock processing and
concrete manufacture; and dust generated from haul roads, unpaved roads, exposed soils,
material stockpiles, etc. This can lead to health impacts to locals and impacts to ecology and
crops. But these impacts are readily mitigated by simple interventions regarded as being
“good site practise”.

Soils: Potential soil contamination is a possibility in the construction phase resulting from
poor management of fuel, oil and other hazardous liquids used during the project works.
Again, these impacts are readily mitigated by simple interventions regarded as being “good
site practise”.

Surface water: Impacts to surface water and groundwater could occur through improper
operation of construction camps and associated manufacturing areas including crushing and
grading, concrete and, asphalt production. Poor construction management at the dam site and
close to surface watercourses could also lead to pollution incidents. Technical water can be
sourced from rivers in the Project area without impacting on existing inhabitants. These
potential impacts are readily mitigated by simple interventions regarded as being “good site
practise”.

Groundwater: Impacts to groundwater include spills and leaks of hazardous liquids used at
construction sites and manufacturing area. Mitigation will be through good site practices
implemented by the contractor and checked during periodic audit. Specific mitigation
includes forming bunds to guide unpolluted water around works areas, silt traps and bunds
downstream of site and sumps for settlement before discharge, drip traps and good
maintenance of equipment.

Natural hazards: The dam and access roads are located in a region that is seismically active
and the dam and its associated structures have been designed in accordance with the
appropriate design standards. At construction site level, the contractor will prepare a Slope
Stabilisation Plan and Water Resources Management Plan to prevent construction activities
increasing flood risk.

Construction camps: Construction camps are a temporary land use change with potential
impacts on air quality (dust); water quality (poor sanitation) and improper solid wastes and
effluent; together with issues related to unwanted construction worker fraternisation (cultural
differences, HIV / AIDS, etc.) However, given the proximity to the urban area of Apia it is
unlikely that a large construction camp with overnight accommodation and extensive ablution
facilities will be required. Rather, the small international management team can be
accommodated in existing accommodation in Apia and the locally sourced skilled, semi-
skilled and unskilled workers will be accommodated at their home base and travel into work
during the working day.

Physical and cultural resources: An archaeological survey concluded that there were no
physical cultural resources within the Project area. While unlikely that physical cultural
resources will be uncovered during works, a chance find process, identified in the
archaeological survey assessment report, is included in the EMP. Operation Phase
Environmental Impacts.

Noise, air and water quality: No noise, air or water pollution sources are identified for the
operational phase of the project. No impact requiring mitigation has been identified.

Environmental flows: The Project has the opportunity to restore good quality habitat
through release of environmental flows for existing schemes in the catchment.

Mitigation and Management Actions:

Design, construction and operation phase management plans have been derived and presented
in a set of site-specific environmental management plans. The EIA document includes these
environmental management plans (EMP) identifying

(i) mitigation measures for potential environmental impacts encountered during

implementation,
(ii) an environmental monitoring program to ensure that mitigation is in place and
operating effectively; and
(iii) identification of the responsible entities for mitigation, monitoring, and reporting.

The construction phase EMP will be included in project bidding documents for the project
for adoption by the contractors, though it will be a contract requirement that the construction
contractor will be required to develop and gain approval for their own site and construction
methodology-specific construction environmental management plan (CEMP) including site-
specific plans and sub-plans .

Stakeholder Engagement:

 During the due diligence process for the project (July 2018 to date) the consultants
and the Project Management Unit (PMU) conducted consultations with potentially
affected households and wider communities and stakeholders.
  Those attending received information about the Project resettlement plan, bidding
process and expected time for the beginning of the works and the establishment of
the grievance redress mechanism (GRM) and details on the GRM procedure.
Participants were supportive of the project and shared their concerns and suggestions
on issues such as dam safety amongst other issues.
 Costs associated with environmental protection during design, construction and
operation phases (excluding offsetting measures to be developed and costed through
the BOP) are provisionally costed at US$1.1M. Implementation.
 The EMP, its mitigation and monitoring programs identified in the EIA will be
included within the Project Bidding Documents for works. This ensures that all
potential bidders are aware of the environmental requirements of the Project and its
associated environmental costs.
 The project bidding documents will state that the contractor will be responsible for
the development and implementation of the EMP through their own construction
EMP (CEMP) which will be based on the EMP in the EIA and reflect the
construction programme and approach they will adopt for the works. The CEMP will
adopt all of the conditions of the EMP adding site specific elements that are not
currently known e.g. The location and layout of contractor construction camps, lay
down areas, borrow areas (if required), disposal areas and the operation measures for
each and how their construction processes will ensure that the project is implemented
in an environmentally acceptable manner. 46. The EMP and all its requirements will
be included in the contract, making implementation of the EMP a legal requirement
under the contract. The contractor’s CEMP will be reviewed by the PMU (supported
by the construction supervision consultant) and ADB and advice given that the
CEMP may be approved by the PMU and the Engineer. The PMU and the Engineer
will monitor the contractor’s compliance with the approved CEMP, through routine
monitoring by their national and international environmental specialists. To manage
and ensure compliance with the CEMP the contractor will recruit an environmental
management officer and a health and safety officer (EMO and HSO) to monitor and
report Project activities throughout the Project construction phase

Conclusions :
Environmental and social benefits of the Project outweigh the adverse impacts, which range
minor and largely temporary inconveniences (physical and social impacts) to high magnitude
impacts that require mitigation and offsetting measures (ecological impacts). The impacts can
be reduced through implementation of the pre-construction measures and construction and
operation phase EMPs. Additional biodiversity mitigation and offsetting plans are being
prepared and will be implemented and monitored. The draft EIA including its EMP is
considered sufficient to meet the environmental assessment requirements of ADB and the
Government of Samoa. Following the public disclosure period, and revision of the EIA
responded to comments, the EIA will be submitted as part of the application for development
consent for the Project.
Case study

Mass Rapid Transport System

Chennai Metrorail Phase – I

Environmental Impact Assessment

The environmental screening has been carried out for the project. The proposed project will
bring in many benefits to the area, there is potential for environmental impacts on the physical
cultural structures due to vibration from tunnelling works during construction and future
operation of the metro.

In this report, the different activities that are likely to take place during construction and
operation, have been analysed and the potential impacts that may accompany them have been
discussed. In general, the EIA Report is outlined as below to address various aspects:

 Provide background of the project in terms of land use, existing Metrorail network and
the proposed Metrorail corridors, methodology of preparation of the report and its
content.
 Analysis of policy and legal framework within which environmental safeguards for the
project shall be recommended and implemented.
 Provide information about the baseline environmental settings..
 Provide information on potential environmental impacts during construction with its
magnitude, distribution, and duration.
 Provide information on required mitigation measures with cost to minimize the impacts.
 Analysis of the alternatives considering alternative locations, designs, management
approaches, for selection of most feasible and environmental acceptable options.
 Provide details of stakeholders consultations.
 Plans for stakeholders to communicate grievances and suggestions and for their
Redressal.
 Formulate environmental management and monitoring plan with institutional measures
for effective implementation of mitigation measures proposed.
  Social Impact Assessment (SIA) with a Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) for
implementation is presented as a separate Report.

Approach and Methodology

Figure 1: Methodology of Environmental Impact Assessment

Desk Research and Reconnaissance

Identification of Environmental Quality

Parameters

Environmental Baseline Data

Field Survey Secondary Data

1. Air Quality 1. Land use

2. Sensitive 2. Natural
Receptors Hazards

3. Ecology 3. Hydrogeology
4. Solid Waste 4. Water
Resources

Environmental Impacts

Environmental Management Plan

Environmental Monitoring Plan

Local Public Consultation
Draft EIA Report

Final EIA Report Ongoing Consultation

during Implementation
As shown in Figure 1.1, the EIA followed a number of steps:

 Review of available baseline reports, and technical reports/studies related to project.

 Conduct field visits to collect primary or secondary data relevant to project areas to
establish the baseline.
 Assess the potential impacts on environmental attributes due to the location, design,
installation and operation of project through field investigations and data analysis.
 Explore opportunities for environmental enhancement and identify measures.
 Prepare an environment management plan (EMP) outlining the measures for mitigating
the impacts identified including the institutional arrangements.
 Identify critical environmental parameters required to be monitored subsequent to the
implementation of project and prepare an environmental monitoring plan.
 Carry out consultation with key stakeholders and administrative authorities to identify
their perception on Corridor introduce project components and anticipated impacts.
 Disclose the draft EIA, including the Executive Summary in local language at CMRL and
MDB’s websites to be made publicly available.

ENVIRONMENTAL BASELINE

The collection of current baseline information on physical, ambient, ecological and

socioeconomic environment of the project area of influence, provides an important reference for
conducting an EIA. The description of environmental settings includes the characteristic of area
in which the project activities would occur and likely to be affected by project related impacts.
Compiled existing baseline conditions include primary data on air quality, water quality, noise,
soil, ecology and biodiversity, and socioeconomic aspects. Secondary data were also collected
from published source and various government agencies.

Data Collection Methodology

The data on water, air, and noise were collected through field monitoring conducted in July 2016
and May 2017. The noise and vibration data were further elaborated in 2019 to include the
sensitive receptors along the project. Data on biodiversity was collected through the field studies
in May 2018. Meteorological data was collected from India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Field Survey

Air Quality :

The air pollutants emitted by point and non-point sources are transported, dispersed or
concentrated by meteorological and topographical conditions. The monitoring results for ambient
air quality 24-hour air quality monitoring results indicates that the air quality was moderate,
while the parameters of Sulphur dioxide (SO2) and Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) were within the
permissible level of National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) and World Health
Organization (WHO) guideline.

Water Quality :

The analysis of water samples is presented in Table 4.13. Laboratory analysis of water sample
depicts that most of the parameters are well within the prescribed permissible limits as per the
Bureau of Indian Standards except some parameters viz Turbidity at 4A, and 5C, Total Dissolved
Solids, Calcium, Total Hardness, and Chloride at 4G, Lead at 4E exceed the permissible limit.

Noise :

The noise data was collected at 8 noise monitoring stations at hourly interval during morning,
afternoon and evening such that peak and off-peak hours are covered. Most of the stretch is
along the existing road. Later in 2019, monitoring of noise was conducted at 30 sample locations
with sensitive receptors which are located within 200 m on either side of the alignment of
Corridor.

Vibration :

Vibration consists of rapidly fluctuating motions of the particles without any net movement.
Objects can vibrate differently in three mutually independent directions which are vertical,
horizontal and lateral. It is common to describe vibration levels in terms of velocity, which
represents the instantaneous speed at a point on the object that is displaced. Vibrations are
transmitted from the source to the ground and propagate through the ground to the receiver.
Flora and Fauna :

1. No rare or endangered species of trees were noticed during field studies. To minimize
tree cutting it is proposed to transplant young trees to the extent possible. Local forestry
officials will be consulted to transplant the trees at suitable locations.
2. Common birds observed in the project area are pigeons, parrot, crows, and doves. The
predominant mammals observed in the project area are mongoose, bat, Squirrel, monkey
and mice etc. No rare or endangered species were noticed.

ANTICIPATED IMPACTS :

 Loss of about 536 trees for construction of metro rail alignment as well as depot area.
 Subsidence, noise and vibration due to tunnelling boring machine (TBM), excavation
machines, and materials hauling.
 Safety risks, inconvenience of traffic nuisance and poor accessibility due to road closures
and diversions, noisy conditions etc. will also be created due to plying of large number of
heavy trucks transporting construction material, equipment and machinery in and around
the project area.
 Increased noise and air pollution resulting from traffic volume during construction.
 Increased local air pollution due to rock crushing, cutting and filling works, and
chemicals from asphalt processing.
 Risks for damage to structures from vibration during construction and operation stages.
 Risks and vulnerabilities related to occupational health and safety due to physical,
chemical, biological, and radiological hazards during project construction and operation.

COVID-19 Pandemic

WHO has declared COVID-19 as a pandemic which has affected entire world including India.
The Contractor and workers would need to follow various guidelines notes issued by the
national/state government, WHO. The Contractor shall undertake a COVID-19 risk assessment
of project area and prepare a COVID-19 Response and Management Plan (C-R&MP) and submit
to CMRL and GC for approval.
MITIGATION MEASURES

 Wastewater generated will be collected and discharged into municipal drains after proper
treatment to meet the CPCB standards. Efforts should be made conserve the water by
recycling water in the system.
 CCTV system will provide video surveillance and recording function for the operations
to monitor each station. The monitoring shall be possible both locally at each station and
remotely from the operation control center.
 In the unlikely event of simultaneous tripping of all the input power sources or grid
failure, the power supply to stations as well as to trains will be interrupted. A standby
silent type DG set of adequate capacity at underground stations will sustain the
following: essential lighting, signaling, and telecommunications, fire-fighting system, lift
operation, and tunnel ventilation.
 Before start of civil work the contractor and CMRL will coordinate with State
Archeological department to reconfirm that there is presence of buried artifacts along the
metro line alignment. No piling or excavation will be allowed unless cleared by the
Archeological Department.

Benefits :

Reduced Air Pollution:

Reduction in air pollution level is the single most important indications due to metro rail
alignment.

Increased Employment Opportunities:

In post-construction phase, about 913 people will be employed for operation and
maintenance of the system.

Improved Economy:

The project will facilitate movement of people from different parts of Chennai. Corridor will
yield benefits in terms of growth in economic activity due to better accessibility, savings in fuel
consumption, corresponding reduction in cost of road construction and maintenance, reduction in
vehicle operating costs, savings in travel time, improvement in quality of life and reduction in
loss of productivity due to health disorders resulting from pollution.

Mobility Safety and Reduced Accidents:

The metro network increases the mobility of people at faster rate. The proposed corridor will
provide more people connectivity to other parts of the city. Metro journey is safe and result in
reduced accidents on roads.

Reduced Fuel Consumption:

Based on number of daily vehicle kilometre reduction, daily reduction in fuel (diesel and
petrol) consumption has been estimated.

PUBLIC CONSULTATIONS :

1. Public consultation and participation are a continuous two way process, involving,
promoting of public understanding of the processes and mechanisms through which
developmental problems and needs are investigated and solved.
2. The public consultation, as an integral part of environmental and social assessment
process throughout the project preparation stage not only minimizes the risks and
manages the expectation of the project but also abridges the gap between the community
and the project formulators, which leads to timely completion of the project and making
the project people friendly.
3. Public consultation/information is an integral part of the Chennai metro project cycle.
Public consultations with the people of different sections of the society along the project
alignment, shopkeepers, and influential persons of the project area were made.

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN

The Environmental Management Plan (EMP) consists of a set of mitigation, monitoring and
institutional measures to be taken for Corridor to avoid, minimize and mitigate adverse
environmental and social impacts and enhance positive impacts. The plan also includes the
actions needed for the implementation of these measures.

The major components of the EMP are:

  Mitigation of potentially adverse impacts.
 Environmental monitoring.
 Emergency response procedures.
 Institutional arrangements and reporting mechanism.
 Implementation Schedule.
 Training and capacity building.
 Cost estimates.

Environmental Monitoring and Reporting Program :

Environmental Monitoring Plan (EMoP) is a companion document of the EMP. EMoP

contain parameters, location, sampling and analysis methods, frequency, and compared to
standards or agreed actions that will indicate non-compliances and trigger necessary corrective
actions. More specifically, the objectives of the EMoP are:

 Ensure that impacts do not exceed the established legal standards.

 Check the implementation of mitigation measures in the manner described in the EIA
report.
 Monitor implementation of the EMP.
 Provide an early warning of potential environmental damage.
 Check whether the proposed mitigation measures have been achieved the intended
results, and or/ other environmental impacts occurred.
Power Plants

Environmental Impact Assessment for Nuclear power Plant – Kudankulam

In the EIA procedure for a nuclear power plant, the Ministry of Employment and the
Economy will act as the coordinating authority. The coordinating authority will request
statements from various authorities during the EIA procedure. Also the residents of the site
region, civic and environmental organisations and other stakeholders have the opportunity to
take a stand on this EIA program, assessment of the environmental impacts and to the project.
The coordinating authority of the EIA procedure notifies of the public display. This states more
clearly how and when the opinions can be stated. The EIA report will be displayed publicly in
due course, in order to allow expressing statements and opinions

Figure 1 Stages of EIA procedure

Site Clearance for

KK(Kudankulam)

MoEF and other statutory

clearances

Ecological impact measures

Radiation measures

Mitigation Measures

Public Communication

Alternatives to be measured

Project impact monitoring

Site Clearance for Kudankulam-1&2 (KK-1&2) :

 The sites offered by the states for setting up nuclear power projects are evaluated by the
Site Selection Committee (SSC) of the Government. The SSC evaluates the sites in line
with the criteria laid down in the AERB Code of Practice on Safety in Nuclear Power
Plant Siting, which inter alia, gives the mandatory and desirable requirements of the site
from safety considerations
 These include assessment of seismicity, location of faults, geology, foundation
conditions, meteorology, potential of flooding (from tsunami, storm surge, etc. at coastal
sites and from rain, upstream dam break, etc. at inland sites), proximity to airports,
military installations, facilities storing explosive and toxic substances, etc.
 The environmental setting comprising of bio-diversity, including flora and fauna, marine
ecology etc. in the region is also evaluated. In addition, availability of land, water,
electricity demand in the region and the availability of other energy options also form the
basis for evaluation. The SSC submits its recommendations to the Government after due
process, accords ‘in principle’ approval for the site.

Ministry of Environment & Forest (MoEF) and other statutory Clearances :

The Environmental Clearance for KK-1&2 was obtained after following the due process
then prescribed by the MoEF. An Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) had been carried out.
The MoEF notification for environmental clearance process then in force did not envisage public
hearing. However, subsequently, while obtaining the environmental clearance for KK 3&4,
Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) as per EIA notification, public hearing including the
responses to stakeholders, review by expert appraisal committee of MoEF as per the prevalent
notification of 2006 was carried out. Detailed studies comprising Geo-technical examination,
Seismo-tectonic, Safe grade level, meteorological and other studies were carried out by the
expert agencies of organizations specializing in these. Based on these studies, the detailed site
evaluation report was submitted to Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), who after a
detailed review, accorded site clearance for Kudankulam site. The project financial sanction
based on the Detailed Project Report (DPR) prepared was obtained in February 2001 and the
work on the project was started after obtaining necessary clearances by following the due
processes in place at that time.
Ecological Impact Measures :

Requirement of cooling water is not unique to nuclear power plants. The generation of
electricity using heat in the form of steam from fossil fuels like coal, gas, oil, etc. involves
condensing of steam in a power condenser, which requires cooling water. In a similar manner,
the generation of electricity from nuclear source also uses steam and thus needs cooling water.
Ships, submarines and motorboats also use the seawater for cooling their engines. The cooling
water temperature observed at the outlet of the power plant condenser is slightly higher than the
ambient temperature of the water, which is, in fact, lowered at the discharge point by employing
systems/engineering solutions so as to be within the limit stipulated by the Ministry of
Environment & Forests (MoEF). The effect of this discharge water on the marine life has been
studied extensively and validate.

Radiation in the Surrounding Area :

 In cases of disturbance in the external power network connections, the electric supply of
the nuclear power plant will be secured by diesel generators operating as reserve power
source. Approximately 100 MW gas turbine plant will be possibly built in the plant site
as a reserve power source for the nuclear power plant and the national grid.
 The electric supply to other buildings in the plant site and to external lighting during
failure situations will possibly be assured by using secured diesel generators. The test use
of the diesel generators will create some carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur
dioxide and particle emissions.
 The test use of the gas turbine will create small emissions of nitrogen oxide. During the
construction period, traffic will be heavy, especially in the fourth and fifth year of
construction. The traffic quantities are estimated to be approximately 5,000 vehicles per
day.
 During the operation of the nuclear power plant, the traffic is estimated to be
approximately 600 vehicles per day. Traffic will cause particle emissions, nitrogen
emissions as well as carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide emissions.
Impacts to be assessed and the scope of the assessment :

In accordance with the EIA Act, the assessment will study the environmental impacts caused by
a nuclear power plant with approximately 1,200 MW on:

o human health, living conditions and wellbeing.

o soil, water, air, climate, vegetation, living organisms and diversity of nature.
o community structure, buildings, landscape, cityscape and cultural heritage.
o utilisation of natural resources
o mutual interdependencies of these factors.

Safety Features of Kudankulam 1 and 2:

The Kudankulam project consists of two units of advanced model of Russian VVER-1000
MW Pressurised Water Reactor, which is a leading type of reactor worldwide. The design has
been evolved from serial design of VVER plant, of which 15 units are under operation for last 25
years. These reactors fall in the category of advanced Light Water Reactors being developed by
various West European countries and Japan. The salient safety features incorporated in plant at
Kudankulam are:

 Passive heat removal system to provide cooling for removal of decay heat.
 Higher redundancy for safety systems.
 Double containment.
 Larger numbers of control rods.
 Additional shutdown systems for the reactor like second quick-acting shutdown
system and quick boron-injection system.
 Advanced instrumentation systems of advanced technology for Reactor Systems
and Balance of Plant as well as for Plant Computer System The design of KK
reactors also incorporates features such as core catcher, Hydrogen management
system to mitigate severe accident scenario as witnessed at Fukushima in Japan.
 The Kudankulam site has a much lower seismic hazard when compared to
Fukushima in Japan.
Alternatives to be measured :

The nuclear power plant will consist of one nuclear power plant unit of a pressurised water
reactor. In addition to the nuclear power plant, the project comprises the storage of spent nuclear
fuel in the site area, the handling of low- and medium-level operating waste, storage and
disposal, as well as the dismantling of the nuclear power plant, and handling and disposal of
dismantling waste. The project includes also:

o Cooling water intake and discharge arrangements

o Service water supply and handling systems
o Wastewater handling systems
o Construction of roads, bridges, embankments
o Construction of a harbour pier and harbour area, as well as a navigation channel
for sea transportation.

Public Communication:

1. Technical Debate with Nature Trust Members at Nagercoil with participation of more
than 100 professionals including students. It was organized by one Mr. Lal Mohan, who
is one of the anti-nuke activists in Nagercoil.
2. A Fishermen Workshop at Vallioor was arranged in coordination with Rotary Club,
Vallioor in the year 2001, wherein fishermen from Idinthakarai, Vijayapathy, Perumanal,
Kuttapuli, Kuthenkuzhi, Thomayarpuram etc., have taken part.
3. In the year 2002, a Public Awareness Seminar was conducted at Radhapuram Panchayat
Union Office wherein the Panchayat Union Chairman/Vice-Chairman, Block
Development Officer (BDO), Panchayat Presidents and Union Councillors from
Radhapuram Panchayat Union have participated.
4. Around 45 Village Representatives, including Panchayat Union Chairman, Vice-
Chairman, Village Presidents, Councilors and other members.
5. The Project has allowed 350 students from various Universities to undertake the In-Plant
Training/Project Work as a part of the Public Awarness Programme with main focus to
give a detailed brief about the art of technology and the safety aspects of the Nuclear
Power Plants.
 6. The officers at various levels have visited the various colleges (about 20) in Tirunelveli,
Nagercoil, Tuticorin and Madurai Districts with an intention give brief about the salient
features and safety aspects of KKNPP. A permanent Exhibition Hall has been set up at
District Science Centre, Tirunelveli as a part of Public Awarness Programme.

Project impact monitoring :

A proposal for the content of the environmental impact monitoring program will be prepared in
conjunction with the impact assessment. The objective of monitoring is to:

o provide information on the impacts of the project.

o investigate which changes have resulted from the project implementation
o investigate how the impact assessment results correspond to reality.
o investigate how the measures for mitigating adverse impacts have succeeded.
o initiate necessary measures if significant unforeseen adverse impacts occur.